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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by Tim F|  July 21, 200610:48 am| 108 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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108Comments

  1. 1.

    Rusty Shackleford

    July 21, 2006 at 11:09 am

    Did anyone catch Spitball last night?

  2. 2.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 11:19 am

    Rusty Shackleford,

    Too little, too late. There’s a lot Matthews could have said that would have been very helpful *before* the war started. I suggest he try doing that next time. But I’m not holding my breath.

  3. 3.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 11:29 am

    In his latest column, Buchanan also said that the Bush administration’s unwavering support for Israel, as it imposes “deliberate suffering on civilians” and “collective punishment on innocent people” through its attacks on Lebanon, is “un-American and un-Christian.”

    From the Hardball link above.

    Wow. Just when you think you have seen all there is to see in the punditocracy …. you get a surprise. Whoda thunk that the only voice of moral clarity on tv these days would be Pat Buchanan?

    I’m … impressed.

  4. 4.

    Perry Como

    July 21, 2006 at 11:30 am

    Just like Detroit:

    U.S., Iraqi and international leaders have sounded alarms this week as new data showed tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in fear of death squads and that some 6,000 civilians may have been killed in just two months.

    U.S. data showed attacks on security forces in Baghdad averaged 34 a day over several days, compared to 24 in recent months. Baghdad morgue has taken in 1,000 bodies this month.

    al Qaeda has been weakened:

    “Today, al-Qaida has not only regrouped, but it is on the march,” said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corp. “Al-Qaida is now functioning exactly as its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, envisioned it.”

    Is there any policy taken on by this administration that has not been an abject failure? North Korea? NCLB? Middle East peace? Medicare reform?

    You’d think for $8.5 trillion we’d get a better return on our investment. It seems like the only thing the GOP is good at is using divisive wedge issues to win elections. Their governing is for shit.

  5. 5.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 11:36 am

    Their governing is for shit.

    Indeed.

  6. 6.

    The Other Steve

    July 21, 2006 at 11:41 am

    Then again, Pat Buchanan is an unabashed bigot. He’s hardly someone I would wish to trumpet agreement with on issues of homosexuals, immigrants, minorities, jews, etc.

  7. 7.

    Zifnab

    July 21, 2006 at 11:51 am

    John Stewart on a stem cell rampage!

    The War On Terror-ble Diseases!

    We’ll fight them invitrol, so we don’t have to fight them over here!

    I’m not saying we’re going to deploy these stem cells indefinitely, but when paralyzed patients stand up we will stand down.

  8. 8.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 11:52 am

    Pat Buchanan is an unabashed bigot

    He might be more of a fan of divisive politics than a true bigot. I’ve been listening to him for years and I am never sure one way or the other. With him, one has to figure out constantly where he is crossing the line between principle and self interest. He’ll say stuff to rile up his followers, he knows how to push their buttons. He likes applause more than he cares about any particular principle, I think.

  9. 9.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 12:11 pm

    Pat Buchanan is probably just the kind of guy that someone like ppGaz would fall for.

  10. 10.

    tBone

    July 21, 2006 at 12:16 pm

    U.S., Iraqi and international leaders have sounded alarms this week as new data showed tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in fear of death squads and that some 6,000 civilians may have been killed in just two months.

    Look, moonbat, you can’t make a liberty omelette without breaking a few civilian eggs. Freedom is messy.

  11. 11.

    Perry Como

    July 21, 2006 at 12:16 pm

    Pat Buchanan is probably just the kind of guy that someone like ppGaz would fall for.

    A conservative?

  12. 12.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 12:27 pm

    No, a bigoted anti-Semite.

  13. 13.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 12:34 pm

    No, a bigoted anti-Semite.

    Why don’t you send me an email and call me that with a real name and address?

    My email address is in plain sight. Send the mail now.

  14. 14.

    Perry Como

    July 21, 2006 at 12:38 pm

    No, a bigoted anti-Semite.

    You misspelled “isolationist”.

    hth
    hand

  15. 15.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 12:49 pm

    Like Nutcutter, aka ppGaz, and Pat Buchanan, many are the critics of Israel who react in horror when accused of anti-Semitism. Of course it is theoretically possible to criticize Israel without being a Jew-hater. Many Jews criticize Israel, and so do many well-meaning friends seeking a better future.

    Diana Muir, writing for the History News Network has discovered a new study which points to an interesting correlation between habitual severe criticism of Israel and anti-Semitic beliefs.

    “Two Connecticut professors got curious about the constant denials that extremely harsh critics of Israel were anti-Semitic. Edward H. Kaplan, the William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences, and Charles A. Small, Director of Urban Studies, Southern Connecticut State University, decided to examine the issue in formal way. Their paper, “Anti-Israel Sentiment Predicts Anti-Semitism in Europe,” appears in the August issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution.”

    In brief, the correlation among those who criticize Israel and habitual anti-Semitic beliefs was nearly perfect.

  16. 16.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 12:51 pm

    Of course it is theoretically possible to criticize Israel without being a Jew-hater.

    There is nothing “theoretical” about it, you lying sack of shit.

    Send me your email address. I double dog dare you.

  17. 17.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 12:53 pm

    Wow. Just when you think you have seen all there is to see in the punditocracy …. you get a surprise. Whoda thunk that the only voice of moral clarity on tv these days would be Pat Buchanan?

    He’s been doing this on the Sunday shows for weeks. He’s on that McLaughlin Group thang just excoriating the extreme right and the neoclowns. The guy’s had an awakening…he really has.

  18. 18.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 12:57 pm

    The guy’s had an awakening…he really has.

    I guess miracles are actually possible, then.

    Praise Jesus.

    That’s Jesus Moreno, my financial planner, but praise him, anyway.

  19. 19.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 12:59 pm

    Par, I must have missed your mail. You were going to write me and tell why you think you should call me an anti-semitic bigot from behind your cowardly veil of anonymity.

    Does John Cole know who you are? He knows who I am.

    Send the mail.

  20. 20.

    Rusty Shackleford

    July 21, 2006 at 1:01 pm

    On Hardball last night Buchanan and Shrum were not far from the position former CIA agent Bob Baer held, who is worried about the conflict in Lebanon being the catalyst for the U.S. to broaden their campaign in War on Terror to Iran and Syria like the Neocons want.

    Iran could end up with a huge Shia empire in the ME and hold the American soldiers in Iraq hostage (via Shrum). Iran is a country of 60+M and the Financial Times reporters Matthews had on Wednesday told him not to believe the hype that the young Iranians are chafing at the Iranian govt the way Bill Kristol and the other Neocons claim they are.

    Iran has been the big winner in the Iraq War and it appears that we’re not learning anything from our experience there.

    Regarding Buchanan, I always feel dirty when I agree with him on something and in the last week I’ve felt like I’ve needed a perpetual shower.

  21. 21.

    Perry Como

    July 21, 2006 at 1:03 pm

    More Unhinged Leftists(TM) at Cato:

    Now, you could marvel at the brazenness of all this: the same people who helped lead us into the biggest foreign policy disaster in 30 years trying to push another war (or wars) on us without so much as a prefatory “sorry about the whole Iraq thing, old boy.” But the current squawking also strikes me as a useful reminder of how very, very important war is in the neoconservative vision. It is as central to that vision as peace is to the classical liberal vision.

    For the neoconservatives, it’s not about Israel. It’s about war. War is a bracing tonic for the national spirit and in all its forms it presents opportunities for national greatness. “Ultimately, American purpose can find its voice only in Washington,” David Brooks once wrote. And Washington’s never louder or more powerful than when it has a war to fight.

  22. 22.

    LITBMueller

    July 21, 2006 at 1:03 pm

    Wow! Nutcutter is going JANE HAMSHER on ParR’s ass!!! Just kidding! Just kidding!!!! Couldn’t resist!!! :)

    Is there any policy taken on by this administration that has not been an abject failure? North Korea? NCLB? Middle East peace? Medicare reform?

    Well, I’d say the tax cuts designed to make rich people even richer have been very successful. Oh, and the pro-Halliburton stuff has made them boatloads of dough!!!

  23. 23.

    Zifnab

    July 21, 2006 at 1:05 pm

    Like Nutcutter, aka ppGaz, and Pat Buchanan, many are the critics of Israel who react in horror when accused of anti-Semitism. Of course it is theoretically possible to criticize Israel without being a Jew-hater. Many Jews criticize Israel, and so do many well-meaning friends seeking a better future.

    I like how it is, in fact, theoretically popular. I also like how you have even stated that Jews and well-meaning friends have critisized Isreal with some degree of success. And yet the study you site seems to indicate that these Jews and Jew-friends are either anti-Semetic or on the road to anti-Semetism.

    I’ve actually read the study you quote, and one of the primary arguements Kaplan and Beach make is that support for a Jewish state can be compared to, say, support for a firmly established state like Germany or China. If you have someone who claims Germans deserve a homeland, but Jews (in the form of Isreal) do not, then you have a person exhibiting some degree of anti-Semetism. Naturally, I have a very serious problem with this logic, since Germany has existed in one form or another for centuries, while Isreal is a mere 50-odd years old. If you went back to the Holy Roman Empire on the verge of collapse in the 1800s and demanded an independent German state, you would likely get a much different array of opinions. Likewise, if you were to take this study in Canada asking whether Quebec should be its own state, would you be an anti-Quebecian for being disabused of the notion? Quebecians, after all, often claim to be an independent social and ethnic group.

    There are one or two other points that bare mentioning in the article, about how it defines anti-Semetism and what criterions it sets down to determine the existance or absence of the trait which I disagree with as well. But it is an interesting study to look at, if for no other reason than it gives you an idea of how Zionists think in their quest to reclaim the Holy Land and rebuild the Temple.

  24. 24.

    Zifnab

    July 21, 2006 at 1:06 pm

    *theoretically possible

    I should really proofread anything more than three lines.

  25. 25.

    Perry Como

    July 21, 2006 at 1:08 pm

    In brief, the correlation among those who criticize Israel and habitual anti-Semitic beliefs was nearly perfect.

    If Buchanan is an anti-Semite, why did so many older Jewish people vote for him in Florida in 2000?

  26. 26.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    Pat is not all there. I remember, in 2004, he railed against Bush for his economic failures at home, he railed against Bush for his military failures abroad… and then he told people to vote for Bush anyhow, and he parrotted the ridiculous and libelous election smears against Kerry, out of some sort of “tribal” loyalty.

  27. 27.

    Rusty Shackleford

    July 21, 2006 at 1:11 pm

    Perry Como Says:

    In brief, the correlation among those who criticize Israel and habitual anti-Semitic beliefs was nearly perfect.

    If Buchanan is an anti-Semite, why did so many older Jewish people vote for him in Florida in 2000?

    July 21st, 2006 at 1:08 pm

    Cataracts?

  28. 28.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    Regarding Buchanan, I always feel dirty when I agree with him on something and in the last week I’ve felt like I’ve needed a perpetual shower.

    I’m just getting caught up on this. Haven’t seen much Hardball lately, I assume that’s where he is hanging out.

    I am starting to think … a little … that Bush’s uncritical and downright idiotic knee-jerk support for Israel and the fact that he has wrapped that up in his whole dysfunctional package of Meddle East policy (no, that is not a misspelling) to the extent that if you took away the Israel component …. the premise for the policy might just collapse entirely …. anyway, his chew-with-mouthful-of-food trailer park stupid idea of a policy here just might be the undoing of the policy once and for all.

    He’s getting approval numbers in the 30’s for his response to the current crisis. And almost all of that approval is coming from his base. Which means they are giving no actual thought to it at all.

    As silver linings on clouds go, it took Katrina to really expose the incompetance of these guys on the domestic front. Right now, the paint is starting to come off on the confused mess that is our Meddle East policy.

  29. 29.

    LITBMueller

    July 21, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    For the neoconservatives, it’s not about Israel. It’s about war.

    Sounds nice and snippy, but that’s way too simplistic. War is a means to an end. For guys like Bill Kristol, its a means of establishing his long sought-after “Benevolent Hegemony.”

  30. 30.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 1:12 pm

    That’s Jesus Moreno, my financial planner, but praise him, anyway.

    Not so sure I’d want my financial planner to be named Jesus. Too afraid that he’d be just giving away all my money to the poor and spending the rest on wine and manna…

  31. 31.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 1:20 pm

    Punchy,

    Maybe he’s more of a supply-side Jesus…

  32. 32.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 1:20 pm

    why did so many older Jewish people vote for him in Florida in 2000?

    That’s just their sense of humor.

    Or, cataracts, and they thought they were voting for “Buchwald.”

  33. 33.

    Krista

    July 21, 2006 at 1:33 pm

    Nutcutter — you just made yourself laugh again, didn’t you?

  34. 34.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 1:36 pm

    :-)

  35. 35.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 2:19 pm

    Send me your email address. I double dog dare you.

    Nutcutter has to be a spoof.

  36. 36.

    RSA

    July 21, 2006 at 2:24 pm

    In brief, the correlation among those who criticize Israel and habitual anti-Semitic beliefs was nearly perfect.

    The Kaplan and Beach study is online, by the way. (Oddly, they seem to be affiliated with Yale, rather than Southern Connecticutt University.) It’s worth noting that the study was carried out in ten European countries, and extreme anti-Semitism was measured by answering Yes to more than five of the following questions:

    Jews don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind.
    Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want.
    Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country.
    Jews have too much power in the business world.
    Jews have lots of irritating faults.
    Jews stick together more than other (CITIZENS OF RESPONDENT’S COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE).
    Jews always like to be at the head of things.
    Jews have too much power in international financial markets.
    Jews have too much power in our country today.
    Jewish business people are so shrewd that others do not have a fair chance to compete.
    Jews are just as honest as other business people.

    That’s 10% to 15% of the surveyed respondents. Rather than Par R’s summary, here’s what Beach and Kaplan have to say:

    It is noteworthy that fewer than one-quarter of those with anti-Israel index scores of only 1 or 2 harbor anti-Semitic views (as defined by anti-Semitic index scores exceeding 5), which supports the contention that one certainly can be critical of Israeli policies without being anti-Semitic. However, among those with the most extreme anti-Israel sentiments in our survey (anti-Israel index scores of 4), 56 percent report anti-Semitic leanings. Based on this analysis,when an individual’s criticism of Israel becomes sufficiently severe, it does become reasonable to ask whether such criticism is a mask for underlying anti-Semitism.

  37. 37.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 2:24 pm

    Buchanan’s piece today.

    says columnist Lawrence Kudlow, “Israel is doing the Lord’s work.”

    On American TV, former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says the ruination of Lebanon is Hezbollah’s doing. But is it Hezbollah that is using U.S.-built F-16s, with precision-guided bombs, and 155-mm artillery pieces to wreak death and devastation on Lebanon?

    No, Israel is doing this, with the blessing and without a peep of protest from President Bush. And we wonder why they hate us.

    “Today, we are all Israelis!” brayed Ken Mehlman of the Republican National Committee to a gathering of Christians United for Israel.

    I am so fucking sick of these crazy, lying assholes.

  38. 38.

    SeesThroughIt

    July 21, 2006 at 2:25 pm

    it appears that we’re not learning anything from our experience there.

    Learning is for commie pussies. What are you, some kind of terrorist?

  39. 39.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 2:25 pm

    Nutcutter has to be a spoof.

    Ask John Cole which of us is a spoof.

    Send the email, asshole.

  40. 40.

    Perry Como

    July 21, 2006 at 2:26 pm

    Activist judge alert!

    Those of you shacking up, have no fear: A judge has thrown out a 201-year-old North Carolina law making it illegal for unmarried couples to live together.

    Superior Court Judge Benjamin Alford of New Bern struck down the law as unconstitutional in a handwritten ruling released Thursday. A final order has not yet been written.

  41. 41.

    RSA

    July 21, 2006 at 2:26 pm

    Oops, forgot to finish up: a 56% correlation is not a perfect correlation.

  42. 42.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 2:29 pm

    Jews Republicans don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind.
    Jews Republicans are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want.
    JewsRepublicans are more loyal to Israel the GOP than to this country.

    Fixed.

    What does that make me? Anti-manufactured-housing?

  43. 43.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 2:32 pm

    Perry Como,

    A judge has thrown out a 201-year-old North Carolina law making it illegal for unmarried couples to live together.

    Phew! I’m glad they didn’t catch me!

  44. 44.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 2:34 pm

    Sweet.

    Republicans have too much power in the business world.
    Republicans have lots of irritating faults.
    Republicans have too much power in international financial markets.
    Republicans have too much power in our country today.

  45. 45.

    The Other Steve

    July 21, 2006 at 2:38 pm

    Pat is not all there. I remember, in 2004, he railed against Bush for his economic failures at home, he railed against Bush for his military failures abroad… and then he told people to vote for Bush anyhow, and he parrotted the ridiculous and libelous election smears against Kerry, out of some sort of “tribal” loyalty.

    No. Kerry was going to force everybody into a gay marriage, and only voting for Bush would stop that from happening.

  46. 46.

    Richard W. Crews

    July 21, 2006 at 2:40 pm

    The world’s events have overwhelmed dubya, he has no policies left. I suppose he can fling the Air Force at Iran in a final bluster. While the mideast burns, bush acts like an oaf at the G8, swearing, uttering simplistic erroneous notions with his mouth stuffed full of biscuits. I’m so proud

    Hearing of our being in a “time of war…” I grit my teeth and think about bush’s lame conduct. Bush cancelled the real war against terrorism and diverted the entire country into his delusional psychodaddydrama.

    So last week, when Attorney General Abu Gonzales was testifying on the NSA citizen spying case, Gonzales stated that FISA courts wouldn’t work because “… but we didn’t have a declaration of war, only an authorization to use military force, so we couldn’t work with that provision. … Obviously they are different.” So we aren’t at war.

    Bush and his supporters are more afraid than we were during any real war. What a strange bunch, bombing abroad while eviscerating their own society, selling it up for their fears. Benjamin Franklin saw their ilk : “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

  47. 47.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 2:53 pm

    Here’s a Link to the article I referred to above. You will note that as of that date one of the authors was affiliated with Yale, while the other was with SCU.

    Also, here’s a portion of their abstract:

    “..based on a
    survey of 500 citizens in each of 10 European countries (for a total sample
    of 5,000), we ask whether those with extreme anti-Israel views are more
    likely to be anti-Semitic. Even after controlling for numerous potentially
    confounding factors, we find that anti-Israel sentiment consistently predicts
    the probability that an individual is anti-Semitic, with the likelihood of
    measured anti-Semitism increasing with the extent of anti-Israel sentiment observed.”

  48. 48.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 2:54 pm

    If Novex makes a crappier, more insanely frustrating transfer box/assembly, I have not seen it. Nothing like pissing away a good portion of a Friday trying to assemble wet sponges in every concievable fashion until it “decides” it likes it.

    Note to self: purchase some Bio-Rad stock.

  49. 49.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 3:18 pm

    One more anti-semite troll from Par, and I may have to pull out the seed catalogs ….

  50. 50.

    RSA

    July 21, 2006 at 3:22 pm

    “. . .anti-Israel sentiment consistently predicts
    the probability that an individual is anti-Semitic. . .”

    Sure, to a probability (high for the social sciences) of 56% at the extreme. That’s interesting, but kids should not try calling other kids anti-Semites at home.

  51. 51.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    Pea seeds
    (Pisum sativum)
    Sow early spring when soil temp is about 10°C (early varieties) Sow maincrop 4-5 weeks later. Sow by scattering seed in a wide 15cm flat bottomed trench 5cm deep make sure there is 5cm between seed, cover seed. Space rows 60-90cm apart. Keep moist and provide support when vines are 8-15cm tall.

    An old gardeners saying ‘rows should be sown in a North to South direction’.

    Peas First Early

    Peas Feltham First
    100 gram Av 250 Seeds
    A popular hardy early variety which produces distinctive large curved pointed pods 8-9cm. Suitable for autumn sowing. Sow October – March.

    { Add to Cart }

  52. 52.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    Par R,

    Yes, their research found a correlation between the two, a fact that I find to be entirely unsurprising (Anti-semites hate Israel, Film at 11!). The question then becomes, what is the strength of that correlation and how predictive is it. So it goes from 25% to 50%… so what. That means that they’d probably give Pat Buchanan 50-50 odds of being an anti-semite, whether he is or not. Now, did you have a point?

  53. 53.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 3:33 pm

    Endive
    (Cichorium endivia)
    Sow March-June thinly in shallow drills, sow in succession, 30cm between drills thin to 30cm between plants. Harvest July to October

    Av 50 Seeds
    A spring and summer variety producing small, compact very frizzy heads. Thus the nickname, “Par-R Endive”.

    { Add to Cart }

  54. 54.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 3:36 pm

    Alas, not a single statistician among the readership.

    Oh well, it’s still abundantly clear that Nutcutter is a spoof, apparently of the garden variety type…

  55. 55.

    Faux News

    July 21, 2006 at 3:37 pm

    Pea seeds
    (Pisum sativum)
    Sow early spring when soil temp is about 10°C (early varieties) Sow maincrop 4-5 weeks later. Sow by scattering seed in a wide 15cm flat bottomed trench 5cm deep make sure there is 5cm between seed, cover seed. Space rows 60-90cm apart. Keep moist and provide support when vines are 8-15cm tall.

    An old gardeners saying ‘rows should be sown in a North to South direction’.

    Peas First Early

    Peas Feltham First
    100 gram Av 250 Seeds
    A popular hardy early variety which produces distinctive large curved pointed pods 8-9cm. Suitable for autumn sowing. Sow October – March.

    Hmmm. My boss just directed me to create several power point slide presentations, despite my threat of self injury. I think I will use the above information in the middle of one of the presentations. I’m sure no one will even notice…

    :-)

  56. 56.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 3:43 pm

    we find that anti-Israel sentiment consistently predicts
    the probability that an individual is anti-Semitic, with the likelihood of measured anti-Semitism increasing with the extent of anti-Israel sentiment observed.”

    THERE’S a surprise….by the way, how and when did Jewish-ness become an ethnicity? It’s a freakin’ religion. So why it always spoken in terms of being an ethnicity?

    Are there any anti-Christians (analogous to anti-Semites)? Anti-Hindus? And why shouldn’t many Christians be anti-semitic? After all, they didn’t just 86 the Son of God, they tortured him first. There OUGHT to be some residual anger towards Jews for that enormous debacle…

  57. 57.

    Joey

    July 21, 2006 at 3:52 pm

    Perhaps my understanding of religion is a bit off (I find it all ridiculous), but didn’t the Romans torture and crucify Jesus? I always thought that the whole “The Jews killed Jesus!” was a tactic used by people to perpetuate hate against the Jews, up there with “The Jews control all the money!” and “The Jews run the entire world!”

  58. 58.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 3:56 pm

    “The Jews run the entire world!”

    “The Jews write Par R!”

  59. 59.

    Pb

    July 21, 2006 at 4:02 pm

    Joey,

    From Wikipedia:

    According to the Gospels, Pilate personally felt that Jesus was not guilty of any crime against the Romans, and since there was a custom at Passover for the Roman governor to free a prisoner (a custom not recorded outside the Gospels), Pilate offered the crowd a choice between Jesus of Nazareth and an insurrectionist named Barabbas. The crowd chose to have Barabbas freed and Jesus crucified. Pilate washed his hands to display that he himself was innocent of the injustice of the decision (Matt 27:11–26). All four Gospels say Pilate then ordered Jesus to be crucified with a charge placed atop the cross (known as the titulus crucis) which read “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” (The titulus crucis is often written as INRI, the Latin acronym.)

  60. 60.

    Joey

    July 21, 2006 at 4:07 pm

    Ah, thank you very much Pb. I was not aware of the circumstances. It’s still idiotic, of course, to blame the Jews. It’s a bit like blaming every Japanese person one sees for Pearl Harbor, or every German for everything that happened from ’33-’45. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that the story very well could have been altered while being written to put the blame on the Jews. It’s not like that’s unheard of in Biblical history (Just ask Judas). But that, of course, is just a thought, and I have nothing to back that up.

  61. 61.

    RSA

    July 21, 2006 at 4:12 pm

    Alas, not a single statistician among the readership.

    What complete, intellectually bankrupt crapola.

  62. 62.

    The Other Steve

    July 21, 2006 at 4:12 pm

    THERE’S a surprise….by the way, how and when did Jewish-ness become an ethnicity? It’s a freakin’ religion. So why it always spoken in terms of being an ethnicity?

    Judaism is an Ethnic Religion. That is, it’s the religion of the Jewish people. So it’s kind of both an ethnicity and a religion.

  63. 63.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 4:15 pm

    It’s still idiotic, of course, to blame the Jews.

    It was tongue-in-cheek. Snark. Spoof.

  64. 64.

    Joey

    July 21, 2006 at 4:17 pm

    Oh, I know that Punchy. I was just talking in general. I wasn’t attacking you or anything you said. Sarcasm can be easily lost on the internet, but in this particular instance, it wasn’t.

  65. 65.

    The Other Steve

    July 21, 2006 at 4:23 pm

    Bah, the biblical account of the crucifixion is so distorted.

    “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” was the crime. That is, calling himself King was rebellious. The Romans choose who was King.

    Roman’s didn’t give a shit about the religions of regions they took over. All they cared about was taxes and order. So you start rebelling against the system they put in place, and your gonna piss off the Governor.

    And by all other accounts of Pilate, he was not a generous governor. So it’s been suggested that the wording of that story was intended to appease the Romans.

  66. 66.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 4:35 pm

    Roman’s didn’t give a shit about the religions of regions they took over. All they cared about was taxes and order

    So, it was the Republicans who killed Jesus.

  67. 67.

    jg

    July 21, 2006 at 5:41 pm

    So, it was the Republicans who killed Jesus.

    Yes. Because that’s what Jesus would have done.

  68. 68.

    Par R

    July 21, 2006 at 6:20 pm

    RSA: What complete, intellectually bankrupt crapola.

    Agreed.

  69. 69.

    jg

    July 21, 2006 at 6:23 pm

    Holy crap. In ten minutes it went from hot and sunny to hot and stormy. Wind, dust, lightning, thunder and rain came out of nowhere.

  70. 70.

    Ancient Purple

    July 21, 2006 at 6:28 pm

    Holy crap. In ten minutes it went from hot and sunny to hot and stormy. Wind, dust, lightning, thunder and rain came out of nowhere.

    Welcome to the monsoon in Phoenix. I am watching the fun from the 25th floor of my office building. Beautiful.

  71. 71.

    Steve

    July 21, 2006 at 7:18 pm

    THERE’S a surprise….by the way, how and when did Jewish-ness become an ethnicity? It’s a freakin’ religion. So why it always spoken in terms of being an ethnicity?

    With an attitude like that, you are never getting in my tribe.

    “Yeah, Jesus was Jewish, but only on his mother’s side.” -Archie Bunker

    Anyway, it’s an ethnicity.

  72. 72.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 7:24 pm

    Welcome to the monsoon in Phoenix. I am watching the fun from the 25th floor of my office building. Beautiful

    Downtown? Chase building, or …?

    We must be neighbors.

  73. 73.

    jg

    July 21, 2006 at 9:10 pm

    My office is at 56th and Mayo. Can you see that area from teh Chase building? I’d imagine there are a couple large mounds of dirt in between.

  74. 74.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 9:24 pm

    With an attitude like that, you are never getting in my tribe

    Didn’t mean it as a slam. Was actually a serious question. Since no one refers to Christians as an ethnicity…just wondering how judaism (sp?) was diff. Someone answered…I’m happy…I’ll shut up.

  75. 75.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 9:31 pm

    Oh, it was the 25th floor that made me think downtown. There aren’t that many 25 story buildings around here for a metro area with 4 million people.

    If look at my url you can pretty much figure out the neighborhood where I work, if you know your way around downtown. Steps away from the old Union Station. Which is now a County utility building.

    One-seventeen today. Nothing like a July-August afternoon to make us appreciate Willis Carrier

  76. 76.

    Punchy

    July 21, 2006 at 9:54 pm

    Dammit, Tim. What the hell am I supposed to drink tonite? What will look nice, give me lots of head, and doesn’t cost much? And what about the beer?

    Damn two-bit operation here…maybe we can get a responsible grandma to guest-blog…like Friday Sewing Blog…or Friday How To Drive Even Slower Blog….

  77. 77.

    Ross

    July 21, 2006 at 10:29 pm

    If Novex makes a crappier, more insanely frustrating transfer box/assembly, I have not seen it. Nothing like pissing away a good portion of a Friday trying to assemble wet sponges in every concievable fashion until it “decides” it likes it.

    Note to self: purchase some Bio-Rad stock.

    Ick, that sucks. I always hate it when PI’s try to save a couple bucks by buying cheap-ass equipment, which then give their users endless problems.

  78. 78.

    Steve

    July 21, 2006 at 10:35 pm

    Didn’t mean it as a slam. Was actually a serious question. Since no one refers to Christians as an ethnicity…just wondering how judaism (sp?) was diff. Someone answered…I’m happy…I’ll shut up.

    You’re right about Christians, but “ethnic Catholic” is actually a fairly common term where I come from.

  79. 79.

    Nutcutter

    July 21, 2006 at 11:47 pm

    She said that the carnage there represented the “birth pangs of a new Middle East, and whatever we do we have to be certain that we are pushing forward to the new Middle East, not going back to the old one.” Yet everything in the Middle East seems to be reeling backward in a scary way, and neocons are once more mocking W. as a wimp who should blow off the State Department and blow up Syria and Iran.

    Tomorrow’s NYT OpEd page will carry that blurb.

    At what point is it time to just say, okay, everybody OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE? You’ve screwed things up enough, just go home. We can do without a president for a couple of years.

    A “new” Middle East? After Israel spent 18 years in Lebanon, first creating and then trying to get rid of, Hizbollah, and accomplishing basically nothing except the near-destruction of Beirut and infuriating half the radical Arab world before slinking away …. now they are poised to start the 18-year cycle all over again, and it’s the “new” Middle East?

    How fucking crazy and out of touch do these idiots in our government have to be before we just say, “Enough?”

  80. 80.

    Kirk Spencer

    July 22, 2006 at 9:50 am

    Par R,

    The major flaw with the survey is the questions used to determine “anti-Israel” status. Four questions. One uses “is similar to” for the critical phrase. One uses “is there any justification”. One gives a double choice – “Do you agree it’s red or blue” type phrasing. There is one question which does not lead or muddy, and it’s got possible other problems.

    The statistics are good. The survey is bad. GIGO applies.

  81. 81.

    ats

    July 22, 2006 at 10:50 am

    The Washington Post has a front page headline today saying, “Israeli Troops Feel Sense of Moral Clarity.”

    Just curious. Is it the same sense they felt last time, when they oversaw the massacre of Palestinians in the two camps outside Beirut? Will they have the same sense of clarity when, a few months hence, their buffer zone engineers re-route the Litani River water to the settlements in the West Bank?

    If the American people only knew! But our media will make damn sure they never do.

  82. 82.

    Krista

    July 22, 2006 at 10:54 am

    Since no one refers to Christians as an ethnicity…just wondering how judaism (sp?) was diff.

    Actually, I was curious about that too, Punchy, so don’t feel bad. It’s so rare around here for people to profess that they don’t know about something, that I think you threw people for a loop.

  83. 83.

    ats

    July 22, 2006 at 10:59 am

    “In brief, the correlation among those who criticize Israel and habitual anti-Semitic beliefs was nearly perfect.”

    Which suggests that, based on the Pew poll, the whole rest of the world is antisemitic. A blood libel of all gentiles, as well as Jews like Noam Chomsky.

    There is another nearly perfect correlation, between those who are losing an argument and those who label the winner antisemitic.

  84. 84.

    Par R

    July 22, 2006 at 11:03 am

    ats, I don’t think there’s much doubt as to where you stand on the question of anti-semitism.

  85. 85.

    Punchy

    July 22, 2006 at 11:17 am

    There is another nearly perfect correlation, between those who are losing an argument and those who label the winner antisemitic.

    That’s literary genius. Well-spoken.

  86. 86.

    Kirk Spencer

    July 22, 2006 at 11:32 am

    Par R,

    Now I’ve read the whole draft you linked to, and some peer reviews, and even found some of the data elsewhere. In addition to my notes about the question, the peer review noted that based on the data, there is a strong correlation (14%, vs the 56% discussed above) of antisemitism in those strongly PRO-Israel.

    They also note that the scores are not equitable across nations, and one of the worst scorers of anti-semitism is Sweden, a nation that on almost every other study of antisemitism scores LOWER than the rest of Europe.

    Between the poorly phrased questions, the careful avoidance of indicators that the issue is confused, and the fact it’s contrary to the tendency of peer studies, it’s not something to which I’d stake my reputation.

  87. 87.

    Par R

    July 22, 2006 at 11:35 am

    Kirk Spencer – Thanks for the additional isight. It’s also good to see a couple of Yale professors apparently taken down.

  88. 88.

    Nutcutter

    July 22, 2006 at 12:10 pm

    Well, Ancient Purple, NWS has just issued a revised forecast for today …. to possibly be even hotter than yesterday. And based on the temp readings this morning, I’d say they might be right.

    Hold onto your hat. Today could be one for the record books. 105F on the ppgazptmd as I write. (ppgaz patio temperature measuring device).

  89. 89.

    Punchy

    July 23, 2006 at 12:50 am

    Looks like Dudley DoRight took some shrapnel today

    How long until Prime Minister Krista gets The Ehs out of AfGONEistan?

  90. 90.

    Krista

    July 23, 2006 at 6:26 am

    I’m Prime Minister? Holy shit, I know I drank a lot of rum last night, but I don’t remember THAT happening…

  91. 91.

    CaseyL

    July 23, 2006 at 11:47 am

    ats, what exactly do you mean by “oversaw the massacres” at Shatillah and Shabra?

  92. 92.

    Tim F.

    July 23, 2006 at 1:56 pm

    Note to self: purchase some Bio-Rad stock.

    You might be happier with Bio-Rad transfer boxes.
    \
    BTW, we just got our first minigel apparatus. Can get an amen for the 30-minute PAGE gel? Thank you.

  93. 93.

    rilkefan

    July 23, 2006 at 1:59 pm

    People here who would like to see Cynthia McKinney not return to office can donate to her (apparently sensible) primary opponent here.

  94. 94.

    Par R

    July 23, 2006 at 2:02 pm

    CaseyL, I’m afraid that your question of “ats” will likely go unanswered, as the charge of “overseeing the massacres” is a trope advanced by CAIR and other such groups in an attempt to mask the fact that the Phalangists themselves committed the atrocitites. At the very worse, Sharon could be held responsible for not having perfect foresight in anticipating what might happen.

  95. 95.

    rilkefan

    July 23, 2006 at 2:10 pm

    Note that Sharon was held indirectly responsible for the massacre by an Israeli commission of inquiry and lost his cabinet post as a result. “Perfect foresight” wasn’t the issue so much as reasonable care.

  96. 96.

    Nutcutter

    July 23, 2006 at 2:17 pm

    Just curious. Is it the same sense they felt last time, when they oversaw the massacre

    Moral clarity is a cinch, when you know that God Is On Your Side.

    If you don’t believe me, just ask George Bush.

    Apparently God Is On Our Side wrt to our Meddle East policy. Which just goes to show you what a great sense of humor God really has.

  97. 97.

    Par R

    July 23, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    The point was that Israel/Sharon were not involved in “overseeing the massacre” as “ats” was asserting.

  98. 98.

    VidaLoca

    July 23, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    CaseyL —

    In the evening of September 16th 1982, a group of the Lebanese christian militia of the Falange, entered the Palestinain refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila (near Beirout). During the following 36 hours, they murdered between 800 (official Israeli figures) and 3.500 (according to the investigations of the Israeli journalist Kapeliouk) people, including women and children. On the previous day, the sraeli army had entered this part of the city during its campaign in Lebanon. It sealed the camps from the outside world and stood by to observe the events of 16, 17 and 18 September.

    [/snip]

    Ariel Sharon said recently he regretted the tragedy of Sabra and Shatila, but asked if he would apologise he replied “To apologise for what?”

    — F. Keane, in “The Accused”, BBC-Panorama, 17/6/2001 —

    [link]

  99. 99.

    Nutcutter

    July 23, 2006 at 5:05 pm

    The Kahan Commission, an Israeli inquiry into the massacre established by the Israeli government, found that while the Phalangists alone, and no Israelis, were directly responsible for the massacre, the conduct of the political and military echelon was flawed, and named then Israeli Defence Minister (and future Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon, among several prominent Israelis, as bearing “personal responsibility” for the events

    The spoofturd Par R can quibble over the semantics, but the Israeli government seems to have no qualms about assigning responsibility for the massacre.

    The same spoofturd will mount a troll to the effect that such criticisms are “anti-semitic” in exactly the same way that we’ve seen criticism of the Bush administration called “anti-American.” And for the same reason.

  100. 100.

    Par R

    July 23, 2006 at 6:02 pm

    ppGaz/Nutcutter/shithead, or whatever- you are an anti-Semite, as well as an unpatriotic dickhead.

  101. 101.

    Nutcutter

    July 23, 2006 at 6:47 pm

    ppGaz/Nutcutter/shithead, or whatever- you are an anti-Semite

    Right on schedule.

    Say, you cowardly fuck, where’s that email you were going to send me?

  102. 102.

    Nutcutter

    July 23, 2006 at 6:52 pm

    or whatever

    Anyone can find out my real name. Just send me an email.

    What are you afraid of?

  103. 103.

    Nutcutter

    July 23, 2006 at 7:17 pm

    “If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we’ve experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign.”

    William F. Buckley

    Buckley trashes the Potemkin Government of George Bush

    Asked what President Bush’s foreign policy legacy will be to his successor, Buckley says “There will be no legacy for Mr. Bush.”

  104. 104.

    Nutcutter

    July 23, 2006 at 10:24 pm

    Four Children and the Cost of War — CNN

    The last I heard, US policy was that we’d like Israel to end its operations “next week.”

    I really don’t know if I will ever be proud to be an American again.

  105. 105.

    rilkefan

    July 24, 2006 at 1:20 am

    ppGaz, having slept through the Trail of Tears, slavery, the Philippine-American War, Nagasaki, the Tuskeegee expt., the bombing of Cambodia, the Dirty War, Pinochet, Reagan’s Central America policy, Rwanda, Bush fils, and the pictures of Israeli children blown up by Hizbullah missiles, wakes up and sees some disturbing stuff. There there.

  106. 106.

    Krista

    July 24, 2006 at 6:09 am

    rilkefan – Sometimes, you can fiercely love your country despite some of its more horrible moments in history. But then, enough horrible things happen that one day, you wake up and don’t recognize your country anymore. It looks like Nutcutter’s gotten to that point

  107. 107.

    Par R

    July 24, 2006 at 12:28 pm

    ppGaz proves yet again what a complete and total asshole, not to mention a pitiful anti-Semite, that he really is. It is hard to understand why any thinking American would want his e-mail address, that he keeps pushing, as most of us don’t care to associate with trailer park trash and unpatriotic scum.

  108. 108.

    Tulkinghorn

    July 25, 2006 at 12:50 am

    Blaming Sharon for allowing the massacres to happen is antisemitic? That makes most of Israel antisemitic.

    Realtity is reality, truth is truth, whether the facts are pro-israel or not. To their credit, most Israelis recognize this.

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