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Weekend Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:22:00 AM EST
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Bump and Update: For those of you hanging out online this weekend, here's a new open thread.

And don't forget we're seeking new diarists this weekend.

< Bill Richardson: Larry Craig "Did a Terrible Thing" | On Iraq: Ineffective Pundits, Ineffective Activists >

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    Weekend Open Thread | 45 comments (45 topical)

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    Pubic Coup (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by squeaky on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 12:29:51 PM EST
    digby coins the term Public Coup. I guess if Allawi can't succeed with his coup the normal way why not go public. Hey everyone else in Iraq is hiring a DC PR firm, so why shouldn't Allawi do the same for his coup d'état .
    Do read the rest to get an idea of how absurdly complicated this whole thing is. Just the fact that we all know about this and that American newspapers are printing this stuff is bizarre in itself. It's a public coup --- Americans and Iraqis alike are all reading about it and talking about it like it's a TV show and we're all waiting to see the finale.

    The country needs to face what "pulling it off" means. They are planning to: "suspend the new constitution, declare a state of emergency and make the restoration of security its priority." Too bad Saddam isn't around to give them some pointers. Of course, they are allowing former Baathists in on this and Allawi knows his way around an execution, so his legacy will live on.

    I just keep writing this every day and it just keeps unfolding. We are clearly attempting to stage a coup and put a strongman/puppet in charge of Iraq to "restore security." For some reason nobody seems worried that this will fuel more terrorism and hatred against America around the world since we will be seen as pulling the strings. In fact, the administration seems to want the world to see that we are pulling the strings.



    Washington Post cartoons (1.00 / 1) (#9)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 12:07:07 PM EST
    The Post did not run these two cartoons from Opus because they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

    Cartoon 1

    Cartoon 2

    Shari law has arrived dear people.

    I imagine the Post (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 12:25:20 PM EST
    wouldn't run a cartoon of the Pope or Billy Graham or Pat Robertson standing on top of a mountain of dead babies either...

    Canon Law arrived a long time ago... So? Big deal. No reason to run around in circles crying and screaming in terror that the sky fell.

    Parent

    And no... (5.00 / 0) (#14)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 12:58:24 PM EST
    we don't have to kill all Catholics or other Christians, or torture them in Guantanamo Bay either.

    Parent
    What does GITMO (1.00 / 1) (#16)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 01:25:18 PM EST
    have to do with the WP not running a cartoon?

    Nice non sqequitur.

    Parent

    Wrong (1.00 / 1) (#15)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 01:15:06 PM EST
    A popular comic strip that poked fun at the Rev. Jerry Falwell without incident one week ago was deemed too controversial to run over the weekend because this time it took a humorous swipe at Muslim fundamentalists.

    Link

    And when US newspapers censor cartoons becaise it might "offend" some Moslems, the sky has not only fallen, it is on the ground.

    Parent

    Seriously, do you think (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 02:40:23 PM EST
    you and your fellow paranoiacs can actually convince even a substantial minority of Americans to take this statement seriously:

    Sharia law has arrived dear people.

    ?????????

    LGF delusions of grandeur.  Paul Revere wannabe PPJ posts into the dark night of the blogs, lantern held aloft, shouting "The Muslims are coming!  The Muslims are coming!"

    Geez.  


    Parent

    glanton (1.00 / 1) (#19)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:14:05 PM EST
    What else can you say when a newspaper, especially one who used to have a great deal of stature, knuckles under to pressure of members of the Islamic religion and refuse to run a political cartoon because they fear to offend the members of the Islamic faith??

    I repeat. That is Shari law.


    Parent

    "I repeat" (5.00 / 2) (#20)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 06:42:48 PM EST
    This tactic of yours, this "I repeat" response to other people's posts, it's just so sophomoric.  Let's see how I do at it.  I repeat.  The world is flat.  I repeat.  Republicans don't have a problem with gay persons.  

    Nah.  It doesn't work.

    Still, I appreciate what you do inasmuch as it is as close as you're ever going to get to admitting that you don't read other people's posts.  Almost always you just post stuff with no intention of actual disucssion.

    Try to understand this.  No Sharia Law is being imposed on the United States, nor will it ever be.    

    The elite few who own the newspapers and television airwaves can run whatever they want (save Janet Jackson's nipple).  They don't run the cartoons, not because they can't, but because they don't want to.

    Kinda like, they don't want to run stories about homeless people.

    :-0

    Stay alert, and stay with Fox.


    Parent

    Glanton (1.00 / 1) (#22)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:22:18 PM EST
    Your response is juvenile and does'nt address the subject. That makes perfect sense based on your past performance.

    The stated reason for the WP to not running the cartoon was as I stated. They showed it to some Moslem staff members who felt that it would he offensive.

    That is, no matter how you slice it, knuckling under to a religious group. Worse, a similar cartoon about a christian "leader" had been ran a week before.

    I repeat because it needs to be repeated.

    Shari Law has arrived, dear people.

    Parent

    Sharia Law (5.00 / 2) (#24)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:33:08 PM EST
    I addressed the subject, don't be obtuse.  Again, you might try reading what peoplke write sometime, since you o often pretend to be in discussion with them.    

    Women under real Sharia Law don't cover themselves to avoid offending people.  "Newspapers" in these hellhole countries don't avoid printing "heretical" material out of respect for others' feelings.

    In Muslim theocracies the women cover themselves, the "journalists" censor themselves, because of what can and will legally happen to them if they don't.

    It is money, not the legal threat of violence, that causes media in this country to print and air what it prints and airs.

    You saying Sharia law has arrived here in the US is not only one of the most ignorant things I've seen on this blog, but an insult to those who actually suffer under such oppression.

     

    Parent

    You dodge the issue. (1.00 / 1) (#26)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 09:39:51 PM EST



    Parent
    By "issue" (5.00 / 3) (#29)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 10:05:26 PM EST
    You of course mean what YOU wish was the issue. I dodge nothing.

    Come.  You can tell us.  You feel a bit like Cassandra don't you?  How it must be to be so freaking sure that the Muslims are on the verge of taking over this country.  To actually write "Sharia law has arrived" and then (bravely!!!) hit "Post" and lean back,  think you've saying something.  But nobody will listen except for some freakjobs scattered across the continent.  Why, you must wonder, will nobody listen?  

    Stay alert, and stay with Fox.
     

    Parent

    I repeat (1.00 / 1) (#31)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 10:42:33 PM EST
    I repeat.

    If the Post had had asked a Christian type re the Fallwell cartoon you would have been spraying enough spittle to cause floods..

    That you did not defines you.

    Deal with it.

    Parent

    If it were up to me (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 10:57:53 PM EST
    If it were up to me they'd run the cartoons of Islam's little prophet.  But there is much worse things about the American Media than their refusal to do this.  

    Anyway, I accept your challenge.  I resign myself to "Dealing With" being defined by you in the ways that you define me.  This will be hard to bear, because your opinion matters so very very much.  But someway, somehow, I shall get by.  Sigh.  This wound caused by your piercing critique is not so deep as a river, nor so wide as a church door, but 'tis enough.  'Twill do.

    In the meantime, you must Deal With what it must mean to be convinced that "Sharia Law is here."

    How far gone must you be in the paranoid world.  Maybe you don't really believe it.  For your sake I hope so....

    Parent

    I repeat (1.00 / 1) (#38)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 12:22:50 PM EST
    My issue because I made the comment you keep responding to.

    Parent
    All heartfelt snarking aside (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by glanton on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 12:51:51 PM EST
    I do understand why you keep repeating your comment.  It is clear that you think the WaPost refusing to run the cartoon means we in the United States are now in danger of being subjugated to Sharia Law.

    I wonder though if you can understand why, despite your cries, more than 99% of Americans would undoubtedly say they are not in danger of being subjected to Sharia Law.  

    And you know, to a far greater extent than most others who battle with you on these boards, I'm pretty open about my contempt for Islamic Fundamentalism.  I have not and do not shy away from happily acknowledging Western Civilization's superiority to alleged "civilizations" that force women to cover themselves and stone them for adultery, execute homosexuals, etc.  

    With all of this said, again, I REPEAT, you're venturing deep into loony land if you're worrying about Muslims taking over the United States.  That is the point I have been making, a point you have yet to respond to, perhaps because you're not getting it, perhaps because you're too interested in repeating yourself to bother and see what it is others are saying to you.

    Though I do hold out hope that you're not being entirely sincere.

    But if you are being sincere, then I really do recommend that you check out LGF, if you honestly haven't visited them, because it's an entire community worrying that any day we're all going to be issued prayer rugs.  I check out the site daily, for I find them to be an entertaining group, to say the least.  


    Parent

    I Repeat (1.00 / 1) (#40)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 04:57:51 PM EST
    I check LGF and FP less than once a week, if that much.

    I like all of my worries to be original.

    Obviously Shari Law is not demanding you convert just yet. This is a slippery slope kind of thing. First the newspapers knuckling under, then the foot washers paid for with taxpayer funds (Minneapolus), the taxi drivers who won't carry booze, boozed up passengers and dogs(Minneapolis), check out clerks who won't touch pork, schools in San Diego with gender separate classes for Moslem children and prayers in school at the appointed times...

    I repeat. Shari Law has arrived.

    Parent

    Wow... sad. (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by Edger on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 10:36:34 PM EST
    If you're going to keep selliing fear, you gotta stop using your own product, ppj.

    It's the same advice I give the crackheads on the corner....

    Look at what it's doing to you.

    Parent

    Oh, one other thing: (5.00 / 3) (#25)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:38:20 PM EST
    Shari Law has arrived, dear people.

    Rather than becoming annoyed,let us all be very thankful that for all our problems and for all the lies we are constantly being to,d in this country, it nevertheless remains the case that only a very few, intellectually furtive Americans (LGF readers would about cover it) would receive this statement as anything other than paranoid grumblings.

    Paul Revere he is not.

    Stay alert, and stay with Fox.

    Parent

    Double standard (1.00 / 1) (#27)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 09:45:59 PM EST
    Your desire to find something wrong with the country has been stated and restated. LGF and Fox, which you seem to be more familar with than I, hasn't censored a popular political cartoon at the behest of a religious group.

    The Washingto  Post and some other papers have.

    That this doesn't disturb you is of no surprise to me.

    That they have done so is disturbing.

    Your attitude is purely political. If the Post had contacted the Bush administration for comments on the cartoon about Jerry Fallwell you would have been in high dungeon.

    That is a double standard.

    Parent

    Troll much? (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 09:59:03 PM EST
    Your desire to find something wrong with the country has been stated and restated.

    Yes, stated and restated by you, while trolling.  

    LGF and Fox, which you seem to be more familar with than I, hasn't censored a popular political cartoon at the behest of a religious group.

    What does that have to do with anything I wrote?  Oh yeah I almost forgot you don't like paying attention to what others write.  LGF I mentioned because its readers, and paranoids like them, are the only portion of American society that will take seriously your Paul Revere schtick.  

    Parent

    Deal with it. (1.00 / 1) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 10:38:59 PM EST
    You are the one who recently made the comment re problems re country.

    Parent
    Learn to Read (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by glanton on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 11:06:09 PM EST
    For someone so paranoid about the Other, so whacked out about Muslims taking over and so wary of having to endure voting on a dual-lingual ballot, you sure do struggle with English.

    Do I often point out what I feel are problems in this country on a blog devoted to American politics, for goodness sake?  Why, yes.  But you wrote this

    Your desire to find something wrong with the country has been stated and restated.

    If you cannot see the disconnect that is sad.    

    Parent

    Repeat after me. (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 07:23:08 PM EST
    No one is buying.

    Except you.

    Parent

    edger (1.00 / 3) (#23)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 08:25:11 PM EST
    I understand that you would like to think that the world is as you see it.

    Fortunately, it is not.

    Now, do you have a comment about the hypocrisy and fear of criticism by a religious minority demonsrated by the WP?

    No. Well, that is no suprise.


    Parent

    DA (1.00 / 1) (#41)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 04:59:56 PM EST
    It may be cowardice, but there is something there that bothers them.

    Parent
    If Sharia Law has arrived..... (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 09:10:32 AM EST
    thank the sun god its not being enforced.  I was at the beach yesterday and there was no shortage of skin...Sun God Bless America!

    Jim...the Post ain't running the cartoons for economic reasons.  It's a business, and they fear the heat from the squeaky-wheel muslim groups.  Just like the NFL is considering banning Michael Vick for life due to animal-rights squeaky wheels.  Both economic based decisions.

    I don't like it either friend...squeaky wheels get the grease, and it ain't right.

    Parent

    kdog.... Buddy, you're just wrong (none / 0) (#44)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 08:58:42 AM EST
    Obviously Shari Law is not demanding you convert just yet. This is a slippery slope kind of thing. First the newspapers knuckling under, then the foot washers paid for with taxpayer funds (Minneapolis), the taxi drivers who won't carry booze, boozed up passengers and dogs(Minneapolis), check out clerks who won't touch pork, schools in San Diego with gender separate classes for Moslem children and prayers in school at the appointed times...

    Your comparsion doesn't hold up when you add the remainder in. Let's look at it.

    Taxi drivers are licensed by the state to carry everyone. Shall we say what that means is everyone except those who offend Moslems?

    How about Taxi cad drivers who are KKK members deciding they won't carry blacks or Jews?? Would you also agree with that?

    A check out clerk won't touch pork to do the job they were hired for. How about vegetarians? Should they be allowed to not touch meat? Aisle A for NO Pork...Aisle B for NO Meat...

    How about public schools? Do you think that the separation of church and state has been violated when you have schools for female Moslems who also had specific times for prayers?

    And if that's okay, why did my Grandson go off to a prvate school this morning, paid for by me and his parents??  After all, all we want is a little religious teaching thrown in and a chapel service everyday. Are our wishes less so that the Moslems?

    And the foot washers... Why should scarce tax dollars  be used to provide foot washers for Moslems students? How about showers for the rest of us??

    All of the above come from Shari law.

    Shari Law has arrived.

    Parent

    It's a democracy (5.00 / 1) (#37)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 09:26:13 AM EST
    if someone doesn't want to run a cartoon because it might be offensive fine.  If Salon wants to run it fine.  It's a free country and publications can decide what they run.  I'd like to keep that way because the alternative is that nobody gets alternatives.

    Parent
    Read my reply to kdog (none / 0) (#45)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 09:10:25 AM EST
    And no. About some things it is not a free country.

    Taxi drivers are licensed to carry everyone.

    Public schools are not to be gender specific.

    Prayers are not to be said in school.

    Public funds aren't to used for building things used in religious ceremonies at state schools.

    And newspapers are supposed to be brave enough to run cartoons, and articles, that offend people.

    What's next? Don't report crimes???

    Far fetched?? Read "Gates of Vienna" for a while and see what's happen in Sweden, Norway and other countrues.

    Wake up and smell the coffee.

    Parent

    You wake up and smell your own coffee (none / 0) (#46)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 11:47:53 AM EST
    and I'll smell my coffee and if you don't want to report a crime don't.  You're the one who wants my daughter to go to a private school Jim so what is that nonsense up there about public schools?  The newspapers are supposed to be brave enough to print the truth about Iraq and the truth about cherry picked contrived intel and they weren't that brave either but that's life and they opened the door for those hungry for truth to create their own media forms.

    Parent
    Tracy (1.00 / 0) (#47)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 07:11:14 PM EST
    If you don't want to face the truth, then don't.

    If you approve of gender based public schools based on Shari Law don't be surprised when your grandchildren are forced to attend one.

    All of the examples I gave you are real.

    Since you find no problems with them please cease complaining about your rights being lost.

    Parent

    Affirmative-action under attack once again (none / 0) (#1)
    by Aaron on Sat Sep 01, 2007 at 02:42:57 PM EST
    Commission targets affirmative-action 'mismatch' in law school admissions


    Prediction: U of M will (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Sat Sep 01, 2007 at 02:46:29 PM EST
    not win the BCS this season.  Appalachian State 34; Michigan 32.

    And I was complaining to a friend.... (none / 0) (#35)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 03, 2007 at 09:04:37 AM EST
    how lame college football is becoming with the powerhouses playing 7 home games and 5 away with 3-4 cupcakes on the schedule.  

    Then Appalachian State pulled off the upset...freakin' awesome.  I guess they didn't get the memo that they were supposed to lose by 4 touchdowns.

    Parent

    having read a transcript (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Sat Sep 01, 2007 at 05:00:24 PM EST
    of the audiotape, and read the arresting officer's report, from the sen. craig "operation bathroom pervert" police sting in the minneapolis airport, i am...............clueless.

    it isn't at all clear to me what law (aside from the "law of illegal fidgets") sen. craig broke. he very clearly never solicited sex, the officer just "knew" that's what he wanted, because of his movements and "hand signals", known to be used by gay males soliciting sex in public restrooms. the officer doesn't say how he knew this to be the case, and what differentiated sen. craig's actions from those of just your ordinary fidgety person. obviously, it's those years of training and "experience".

    much as i think the good sen. is a rank hypocrite, and totally deserving of the opprobrium heaped upon him, had he engaged the services of counsel, we wouldn't now be having this conversation; any halfway competent attorney would have told the police and prosecutor to blow it out their respective bungholes.

    if that's what passes for competent police undercover work in minneapolis, god help the good citizens there.

    oh, and if you should happen to need to use the bathroom in the minneapolis airport, make sure you look straight ahead, and NO foot tapping!

    Why didn't he use the ipod defense that (none / 0) (#4)
    by JSN on Sat Sep 01, 2007 at 06:18:38 PM EST
    he was tapping his foot to the music?

    Parent
    good point (none / 0) (#18)
    by cpinva on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 03:27:31 PM EST
    i'd guess because he has no clue what an ipod is. but that's just a guess. lol

    Parent
    The War On Democracy (none / 0) (#5)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 09:18:49 AM EST
    VIDEO:
    The War on Democracy" is John Pilger's first major film for the cinema - in a career that has produced more than 55 television documentaries.

    "The film tells a universal story," says Pilger, "analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called war on terror".

    In an interview with Pablo Navarrete at Venezuelanalysis dot com, Pilger says of the film:

    I wanted to make a film that illuminated this disguised truth -- that the United States has long waged a war on democracy behind a facade of propaganda designed to contort the intellect and morality of Americans and the rest of us. For many of your readers, this is known. However, for others in the West, the propaganda that has masked Washington's ambitions has been entrenched, with its roots in the incessant celebration of World War Two, the "good war", then "victory" in the cold war. For these people, the "goodness" of US power represents "us". Thanks to Bush and his cabal, and to Blair, the scales have fallen from millions of eyes. I would like "The War on Democracy" to contribute something to this awakening.
    ...
    In the United States, the testimony of those who ran the "backyard" echo those who run that other backyard, Iraq; sometimes they are the same people.
    Great Video (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by squeaky on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 10:27:48 AM EST
    Looks like a great one, too bad the compressed Google format makes everyone squished.

    Brian DePalma has also come out with an anti-war film featuring all the Iraq photos the MSM refused to print. It is titled Redacted:

    "The true story of the Iraq war has been redacted from the mainstream corporate media, "If we are going to cause such disorder, then we must face the horrendous images that are the consequences of these events"


    Parent
    Facing reality (none / 0) (#7)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 11:08:09 AM EST
    instead of hiding our heads and denying the suffering and carnage caused by imperialism I believe is what will turn hundreds of millions of people against the foreign policies, and of course is the reason for all the disinfo and whitewashing propaganda and lying slogans like "war on terror".

    Filmmakers like Pilger and DePalma and Moore also can do a lot to help counteract the complicit media too... especially when their films are spread through the web as well as in theaters.

    Parent

    Jeralyn... (none / 0) (#8)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 11:30:34 AM EST
    Re: seeking new diarists this weekend

    Is there any way that you can allow images and videos to be posted in diaries?

    It's your site - you can always remove any that contravene your comment policies...

    Problem is (none / 0) (#11)
    by Jeralyn on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 12:27:04 PM EST
     With pictures, you can't just grab a pix off another site and use that url, it steals their bandwidth. Unless the photo is to a flickr page or something like that, it won't work. Also, diarists won't know the size limitations of the photos here. Photos are generally limited to 240 px wide so they don't skew the site.  I don't want to have to delete a diary because a picture is too wide. Same for videos.

    So, the short answer to your question is no, images and videos can't be included in the diaries. But, you can link to them using the url.

    Parent

    Good points.... (none / 0) (#13)
    by Edger on Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 12:33:07 PM EST
    Daily Kos, for example, restricts image source to certain sites like photobucket, flickr, and a few others.

    It's only a simple few lines of scripting code to do that, and to set a limit on picture sizes, and YouTube and Google want people to use their bandwidth. A posted video is really in essence just a more complex form of hyperlink to their sites.

    Parent

    Weekend Open Thread | 45 comments (45 topical)

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