winsor

Huh? Peruse such texts as 'The Book of Mormon,' 'The Koran' and 'Mein Kampf' if you wish to become familiar with the tenets of the 'ism' in question. Whether or not one adheres scrupulously to the rules they espouse, the fact that they consider them "The Rules" says it all. There is a significant difference between B'nai Mitzvah and Children of Israel, but with Universal religions there is no such distinction. BSBD, Winsor

I think she has good reason to ban those two individuals. Extending the ban to all Muslims is stupid, prejudiced, and ignorant. RTFB.

Yep. Snuffy was totally misinformed and living in the past. The older I get, the better I was...

No kill file, but no Snuffy either.

Actually, it matters quite a bit. Here's why. For the last decade people have been asking the question (sometimes screaming and demanding to know), "where are the moderate Muslim leaders speaking out against terrorists?" The implication has always been that terrorism is an innate part of the religion. This letter shows there is a limit to what the Muslim religious leaders will put up with in terms of terrorist acts. It is important. It's about as compelling as (going all Godwin here) a member of NSDAP penning a missive about how excessive antisemitism is not beneficial to the Cause. If you have any doubts, RTFB. This goes for Mein Kampf as well as the Koran. Both are equally evil, but the former is better written in the sense that a fourth grade level is better than a third grade level. BSBD, Winsor

Yeah. Remember back after the 2005 season hen the forecasts were that it was going to get worse? And I don't think Florida has had a hurricane make landfall since 2005. Not one hurricane landfall in 9 years in Florida. I assure you that there wasn't a hurricane forecaster in the last decade that made this projection. After last year (which was pretty much supposed to be a stronger-than-average year and ended up ith two Atlantic hurricanes - none major - demonstrated the lack of understanding of the meteorology as well as the prevalence of chaos in weather forecasting. (Part of me wonders about the effects of past fear-mongering. AGW theory predicts more wind shear. The three mortal enemies of hurricanes are land, cold water and wind shear. I wonder what the effect would be had the AGW crowd said then, "we may see fewer and less powerful hurricanes in the future due to increased wind shear." Would we have AGW proponents saying, "See? Wo told you. But please trust us that there are other detrimental effects to AGW." Look, we're either going to have to try to live on a frozen ice-ball or a hellish desert planet that is mostly covered by salt water. Either way, I'm scared shitless.

Nancy Pelosi. Don She's busy. I hear Al Sharpton is available.

Stability in the sense of Liapunov buys us little regarding climate. In any event, your post suggests that you basically get it. My concern is that, even if Al Gore had a valid point, by far the biggest issue we face is overpopulation. Carbon footprint and all that is a secondary issue in the long run. As a Thermodynamicist I am greatly in favor of sustainability; addressing the 'climate change' part of the equation without treating the overall condition of our species from a systemic standpoint is a fool's errand. Then again, we're all doomed so what the hell. BSBD, Winsor

There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary, and those who don't.

How embarrassing! Indeed! The Act of Union was approved by the Scottish Parliament by a vote of 106 Ayes to 69 Noes. Sometimes even the Bonds of Holy Matrimony have been broken, despite the heartfelt commitment with which they were forged. Irreconcilable differences and all that.

I agree that the adventure in Iraq was an exercise in idiocy/delusion. Having said that, I think the overall question of which CIC is 'better' is on a par with trying to get a consensus as to whether feline or canine feces is preferable. I say they are both utterly abhorrent, and speak badly for the process by which we populate the Oval Office. The only thing that may be worse is who we choose to represent us in Congress - but again, it's a matter of which outhouse smells the worst after heavy use on a hot afternoon. In any event, both Bush and Obama are beneath contempt for their own reasons and I do not think either is an improvement on the other. BSBD, Winsor

The bigots seem to have gone very quiet. Maybe they are busy in divorce court since their own marriages have been ruined by the rulings - Well for goodness sake, why on earth would one stay married to somebody of the opposite sex when they can now marry someone with whom they have so much more in common?

I am pleased that it was you that went Godwin on this issue. Pretty much no way to discuss it in any other terms. Hey, I didn't pick "homeland." I have no flippin' idea how anyone could have not seen the issues with that. Me neither. The moment they came up with yet another bureaucratic boondoggle, born of fear and panic, and named it in the style of Josef Goebbels, I did not dare belabor the obvious. As Bill pointed out, trying to figure out a Russian translation that served as an analogue would have been just as appropriate. The big difference is that Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti and Geheime Staatspolizei were peopled with very competent - if a tiny bit vicious - personnel (I have met more than a few). Homeland Security, OTOH, makes the Keystone Kops look like seasoned professionals. TSA, for example, consists of folks who blew their previous job interview because they couldn't remember to ask "do you want fries with that." Kinda makes me proud to be American. BSBD, Winsor

BTW, I still think the Bush 43 Administration didn't think through the name very well. Calling the 50 states the "homeland" was pretty fuckin' stupid and sooo 1936ish Germany. I am pleased that it was you that went Godwin on this issue. When 'Homeland Security' was minted, I looked up the equivalent under the Third Reich. However it sounds in German, I am sure that it would have made Himmler proud. Lenin said that the purpose of terrorism was to terrorize. Given the extent that we have turned into a nation of trembling wimps, compared to which Don Knotts looks like John Wayne, I'd say the islamic swine have hit the jackpot. It is embarrassing to be amongst such pussies. Welcome to the Future. BSBD, Winsor

"Do you realize that God spelled backwards is Dog?" "Just push the car."

I fail to see why the color of the shooter or shootee matter. There are altogether too many examples of cops shooting unarmed people and then the event getting whitewashed (pun intended). The point is that when a white kid gets shot you get letters to the editor. When a black kid gets shot you get riots. It's about the same I guess...

I avoid word 'black' because it has historically been used to describe a variety of peoples from differing ethnicities. 'Little Black Sambo,' for instance, was Burmese (hint: if you see a tiger in Africa, you are in a zoo). BSBD, Winsor

FWIW, LDS is on a par with Islam in terms of blatant make-believe. Christianity, in general, is a very impressive power-grab ploy whereby Rome was able to take control of a movement that was undermining its power base. By superficially adopting the tribal lore of the Judeans - with heavily redacted appendices - the Empire survived. Islam is the compendium of meanderings of a malevolent paedphile, who used an illiterate interpretation of Judean lore with Christian addenda as the basis of his claim to power. Anyone who reads the drivel he espoused and accepts any of his suppositions is an idiot. The basis of Mormon (LDS) power structure is also an illiterate interpretation of Judean lore with Christian addenda, also dictated by a malevolent sex-addict. Near as I can tell, Joseph Smith stuck pretty much with females who had hit puberty, and was nowhere near as violent as was the Profit Muhammad (may he rot in hell). The Book of Mormon also requires complete suspension of belief to muster sufficient credulity to swallow any of the nonsense contained therein. The cool thing about the Book of Mormon is that there are various very specific claims made therein that are subject to definitive refutation. There may be a few details that are accurate, but a clock that is stopped is right twice a day. Anyhow, if Mormons do anything that is completely out to lunch, it is completely in line with their propensity to espouse nonsense on a wholesale basis. I have to admire L. Ron Hubbard for creating a whole catalog of nonsense out of whole cloth. At least he didn't start with the Judeo/Christian fantasies when he decided to codify his drivel. BSBD, Winsor

Indicted, hell! Get a rope...

You guys get bent out of shape when the White House doesn't follow legal procedures, then you get your panties in a wad when they do. God forbid they use a drone strike on an ISIS target, and later discover some punk-ass American would-be jihadist from Iowa was at that target. On the other hand that would be a Republican wet dream, wouldn't it. Don My problem is the half-assed attitude. Want to get these guys and take them back to the US for a fair trial? Fine! Do that! But let's not send in spooks to abduct them. Engage in diplomacy. Get the government or tribal leader or warlord or whomever to pinch the guys and turn them over. I DO have a problem with the DOJ performing Acts of War, assassinations, kidnappings, etc. If that's going to be the case then I will be against it. It's time to quit straddling. Is it a war or isn't it? If the Admin wants war then ask for war and go to war. And none of the half-assed Stability and Support Operations, either. Because they don't seem to create stability. There's my problem. "Tthis Justice Department, this Department of Defense, this nation, we have long memories and our reach is very wide..." The Justice Department has no business having reach outside of the US. Reach outside of the US is accomplished by Department of Defense and Department of State. The DOJ has counterterrorism activites but its enforcement is limited to stateside departments. Let's give this to either the State Department or the Department Of Defense. (I wonder if Hagel likes that Holder is speaking for him...) I am opposed to 'no knock' raids. Knocking, in this case, should be of the Arc Light variety. "Whoever is still alive is under arrest." Okay, so this is but an extension of the principle that any personal problem is amenable to solution by suitable application of high explosives. This seems to be a prime circumstance for relying on that philosophy.

Irony score incalculable. I just looked it up, and according to Internet Truth it was Richard Jeni, not Yassir Arafat, that said "I don't get that -- people going to war over religion. I don't know, I could see going to war over justice or democracy or even revenge. But if you're going to war over religion, now you're just killing people in an argument over who has the better imaginary friend." I kind of liked the idea that Arafat said it, but what the hell. BSBD, Winsor

I say they should Scotch Tape John Doe subpoenas to 250# bombs and deliver them with B-52s. Talk about the Long Arm of the Law...

I think the old Western movies that informed popular American culture are an excellent example. Those were the days before "Little Big Man", when Westerns still had all the white settlers as the besieged good guys, and the Indians as rampaging savages or stupid or both. In those movies, "Redskins" was almost always used as a pejorative. Seriously, you'd think today's pro football team would be embarrassed to keep using that reference given the tenor of the current times, rather than just digging in like stubborn children. FWIW, most of 'Little Big Man' was in accordance with the narrative in 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.' Some of the most bizarre scenes had bases in reliable sources. The tying together of the story was fictional, but the veneer of fiction was thin, indeed. BSBD, Winsor

"Your Honor, I want to change my name." "Well, this is a very serious matter, and you had better have a very good reason before the Court will consider you request. What is your name?" "Joe Shit." "My goodness, we will certainly change your name! What is the name you wish?" "Fred Shit." Anyhow, there were some guys with whom I worked in Switzerland that ran a night spot by the name of the 'Dago Bar.' It had no negative connotations for them. The biggest use of seemingly derogatory epithets I have witnessed has been self-identified. 'Faggot,' 'nigger,' 'spic,' 'beaner,' etc. have been bandied back and forth in my presence, to and from people that fit the description. 'Nigger,' FWIW, is simply a variant of a word meaning 'black,' but its context has made its rather benign etymology moot. Most other epithets have similarly mild origins. As far as 'Redskins' goes, I don't even know offhand what sport is involved, and thus don't really care one way or another. BSBD, Winsor The swastika was popular by early aviators as a good luck charm. Before that it has been used by many different cultures and religions. Yet I doubt you will get a good reception walking into your synagogue with it sewn on your chest. Even if you explain you are using it as a good luck charm. Good point. Context matters. I still flinch when I see 'Yankee Candle,' for instance, since I have lived many years in places where 'Yankee' was the most offensive term that one could muster. Running around Southeast Asia, one sees swastikas all over the place, and most of the Buddhist monks I encountered would be hard pressed to link it to Europe in the '30s and '40s. My Best Man's mother was personally given a scholastic award by Hermann Goering while in the guise of a gentile in Luxembourg; she promptly burned the photograph of its presentation when it lost its usefulness as camouflage. He, however, does not bat an eye when in one of the Thai temples that has an LED swastika (he was born and raised in Bangkok). It does strike me that the offensiveness of a moniker is largely dependent upon the perspective of the individual so described. One who is insecure and defensive is likely to be offended by any perceived slight. One who is truly self-confident will be more likely to attribute vitriol to envy and take an "eat your heart out - you should be so lucky" stance. Context being what it is, if a group of people is coming at me with torches and pitchforks I am likely to be insecure and defensive and, regardless of how polite they may sound, take to my preferred form of self defense, which is to run away as fast as possible. BSBD, Winsor

Whoooosh. He nailed it, if a bit gently.