Everybody else must be out stocking up on terrible towels or cheese heads.
Open Thread
by @mistermix.bsky.social| 61 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
by @mistermix.bsky.social| 61 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Everybody else must be out stocking up on terrible towels or cheese heads.
Comments are closed.
Yutsano
Methinks I’ll just enjoy the liveblog on here and nosh pad Thai.
Poopyman
Too rainy to do anything outside today, so I’m doing the odd job inside and keeping an eye on Egypt. Mubarak and his right-wing cohorts have resigned from the ruling party, but he’s still Pres. And the army is trying to get the protesters out of Al Tehrir Square. So far it’s verbal pursuasion along with redeploying tanks. Hopefully that won’t get escalated.
Nellcote
So did you hear that Tucker Carlson hired Mickey Kaus for the Daily Caller?
How much weather would it take to cancel the “SuperBowl”?
Yutsano
@Nellcote: I think all it will really take is hurting Jerry Jones’ fee-fees in the right way. Then he throws a snit and cancels the big show and hilarity ensues.
Elisabeth
@Poopyman:
Apparently, Hosni was not included in the list of those who resigned, if CNN’s Ben Wedeman is to be believed.
geg6
If anyone has to stock up on Terrible Towels, they aren’t very good Steeler fans. I have three. One is under glass as it is one of the original ones from 1975. Another is the one I used for the years since the 70s and waved it so many times that it is now frayed. It sits, folded, in my barrister’s bookcase. The latest one was bought back in ’96 and is only brought out when I go to a game or during the playoffs/Super Bowl. That’s what they were originally were for, the playoffs. So I try to keep to that tradition as much as possible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrible_Towel
paradox
Guacamole and chocolate cake for tomorrow. I hope everyone eats like a pig and has a wonderful time. It’s a sanctioned gluttony, I always embrace such elements of American life.
[rubs fingertips] I have been in a foul, fighting mood lately. I suppose I should shut up, someday I will, I guess…
Hmmm. Have fun!
asiangrrlMN
Foggy here. I love it. Tai chi in a few, and then a full day of cleaning. Blech.
Poopyman
@Elisabeth: I’m just going by the al Jazeera coverage. Been really good, so far.
Elisabeth
@Poopyman:
Seems unclear at best. Either way I doubt it has much affect on those calling for Mubarak to resign as president.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Yutsano: You couldn’t hurt Jones’s feelings enough to make him overlook money.
gbear
I’ve been stocking up on terrible cheese from towel heads.
edit: Actually, I’ve been watching Al Jazeera most of the morning. Right now they’re running a program about American coverage of what’s happening in Egypt (spoiler: our news coverage is looking pretty stupid to them).
eemom
there must be SOME way I can take over the world tomorrow while everyone else is watching…..that. I shall think further on’t.
suzanne
I hate football, but I used to work in advertising, so I really do watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials. My grandmother was the World’s Shittiest Cook, and I only remember her ever making one thing that any of us liked—a cheese and garlic dip that tastes fabulous on those wavy potato chips. So my husband wants me to make that while we sit on the couch, pretending to be Real ‘Murikanz, desperately trying to give a shit.
matoko_chan
al-Jazeerha update.
Hillary and Sulieman are trying to cobble up some fantasy party to oppo the MB. aint happening. the army wont fire. Mubarak is toast.
check this out.
By playin it chilly, the MB is six hops out from America and her pet Mubarak the puppet-tyrant.
hahahahaha!
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@paradox: The first weekend of February is when we make a lot of food food so that I can do my taxes. I think it’s pretty awesome that the rest of the country celebrates by having a football game.
Yutsano
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Oh yeah. Gotta get that done today too. And most people are required to file, but I have to or I get in a huge amount of trouble at work. Being ebil gubimt worker ain’t all fun and games.
piratedan
Jerry Jones fee-fees were unavoidably removed with the last face lift as they had to tuck the loose skin into one of the brain crevaces and staple it in for it to take effect. So fire away at him, he’s got a honkin’ lovely stadium to host the game in and here’s to hopin that he makes enough money to finally parlay that into making Arlington the new digs of the Playboy Mansion with hot and cold running cheerleaders… the swine.
Will watch some college hoops or take another stroll down the path with Glen Cook’s The Black Company while waiting for the heat to be restored here in Southern AZ. (day three of no hot water and no heat and for Arizona and the record cold… well it’s a decided change of pace!)
PeakVT
Beagle vs. Rottweiler. It’s brutal, brutal I tells ya.
soonergrunt
There is a “Terrible Towel” app for android in the Android App Store for 99 cents. Not being a Pittsburg fan, I neither know nor care what it does. Not being an iPhone owner, I neither know nor care if there is something similar for those people.
I haven’t found anything except clocks for the Packers.
suzanne
Ahhhh, taxes. Fun.
My ex-husband and I recently got letters saying that we had each claimed our daughter to get the Earned Income Tax Credit on our 2009 taxes. Problem: The munchkin lives with me, and only sees her dad on alternating weekends. So my ex apparently isn’t eligible to get that credit. And the IRS said that if this doesn’t get resolved, they want the money back from us both until we figure out who owes what. So I am desperately hoping that this gets resolved quickly. And I hope that I get a monster tax refund this year.
Yutsano
@suzanne:
Burnsy will correct me where I’m wrong here, but he’s not. The credit is supposed to be claimed by the parent who has the most economic impact from raising the child. Since that’s you, just prove your case and enjoy the cash. Exam isn’t too bad to deal with, but they get nasty if you’re not responsive.
Amir_Khalid
@matoko_chan: From the BBC liveblog:
Are you so sure the Muslim Brotherhood will come out of this holding all the cards? As far as I know, they haven’t eve been legalized yet so there is still a question about their
Amir_Khalid
That last sentence should be:
Are you so sure the Muslim Brotherhood will come out of this holding all the cards? As far as I know, they haven’t even been legalized yet so there is still a question about their participation in any post-Mubarak talks.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
@Amir_Khalid: Honestly? No one (including @matoko_chan, who I’ve disputed with before on this) knows for sure. We do know that many members of the opposition, including ElBaradei, have downplayed the MB’s immediate ability to take power in any reformed government.
There are some indications towards that opinion that have popped up in some circles in the last coupe of days. The authors of a ’08 survey of Egyptian opinion did an article recently around this:
And the post where I got that from adds:
Other long-time observers, such as Juan Cole, have also opined a less-than-overwhelming role from the Brothers in the near future of Egypt. And, although, I again stress there’s a lot of dispute, by and large the people I see truly throwing out hard-code concern around the Brothers are America’s hard right, and people like @matoko_chan — who, to be honest, seem more invested in molding Egyptian events to their version of What’s Wrong With America.
that said, yes, almost everyone in the opposition, as well as the Obama Administration, have been saying the Brothers must and will have “a place at the table” moving forwards.
Violet
I heard this on NPR this morning, then saw this headline:
Anyone taking bets on how long before the trading system is hacked? If it hasn’t been already.
Amir_Khalid
I think the Muslim Brotherhood need to be formally legalized so they can participate in the post-Mubarak talks, as they should. Given that Mubarak is dragging his feet on resigning the presidency despite the near-total lack of support for him to stay, I wouldn’t put it past him to sabotage the talks any way he can just out of spite.
I agree, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political support might not be as broad-based as various observers had feared (or hoped). It will take them time to rebuild as an above-ground political organization once they are legalized So they probably won’t be the dominant force in Egypt’s politics so many had anticipated — at least, not right away. So if not them, then who?
Yutsano
@Amir_Khalid:
The question right now and probably on everyone’s mind is who fills the void once Mubarak leaves. And that hasn’t been answered clearly yet. It’s possible the Muslim Brotherhood moves into a power position by default just by virtue of being an existing organization already in Egypt despite their being illegal. Once they can fully participate, can they stay a moderate Muslim voice or will the more radical elements feel free to come forward? I think that’s why they’re still kept under wraps for now, because there are no easy answers to these questions.
Professor
Please go to ATRIOS and have a read. A caller got Rush Limburgh is a real bind. Just freaking hilarious!
Amir_Khalid
@Yutsano: It looks to me like the Brotherhood will be a player rather than the player in the talks. My guess would be that, having to appeal to a broad base of Egyptian voters, many of whom share their religious conservatism but not their male-centric world view, the Bros might feel a need to moderate their message and maybe their agenda too.
Yutsano
@Amir_Khalid: It won’t be a Solomonic division of the baby like Lebanon, but probably closer to the messier European parliamentary elections if everything shakes out like I hope it will. Egypt will not go full-on Iran, their women won’t stand for that nonsense. Plus it’s difficult to tell your women to sit in the back when they’ve been some of the strongest rulers your nation ever had.
matoko_chan
@Amir_Khalid: the MB is the only oppo party. Mubarak destroyed all the olther secular parties so he could demonize the Brothers to the pussy Americans.
20% is pretty damn good for a banned party, eh?
@Yutsano: you know nothing about muslim women.
Check out the PEW survey.
matoko_chan
damn moderated.
ill wait to Drop Safe on Yutasano until he reads the PEW survey I linked.
85% of egyptians see Islam as a positive force…only 2% as negative.
84% of egyptians favor the death penalty for apostates.
Egypt is 90% muslim–what do you dumb cattle thank that means? consent of the governed in a democracy WILL BE ISLAMIC.
we abdicated our Big White Christian Bwana right to meddle by propping MUbarak. if egyptians wanna elect the Egyptian Nazi Party at this point they have every right.
the Brothers outgamed Big White Christian Bwana here.
and all your weepy lowing ’bout “democracy” and “freedom” is irrelevent.
Amir_Khalid
@Yutsano: I reckon one difference between Egypt and Iraq is that the Muslim Brotherhood don’t command the awe and deference that the ayatollahs do. The Bros aren’t ruling elders of Sunni Islam as the ayatollahs are in Shiite Islam. Neither are Sunni clergy, who are more like scholars and civil servants than the charismatic leader type you see among Shiite clergy. So I don’t see the Bros taking over Egypt like the Ayatollahs took over Iran.
Before the ayatollahs gained power, women in Iran were as emancipated as their sisters anywhere else in the Muslim world — certainly more so than in many Arab countries. That may have diminished somewhat, educated women are still there in Iran; one won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years ago, remember?
matoko_chan
altmuslim sanity.
Haroon Moghul, Executive Director of the Maydan Institute, writes:
Some call the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt the “godfather of Al Qaeda.” Yet, as the New York Times writes:
anthropologist Scott Atran wrote in the Times:
wallah, Dr. Atran. there is a REASON the Brothers are bein’ chill.
Like Dr. Hessabollah says.
BruceFromOhio
Or cheese towels for terrible heads. Go Packers!
Yutsano
@Amir_Khalid: Fact that will blow many a wingnut’s mind away: after Islam, the status of women in the Arab world actually vastly improved. They had actual legal redress and recognition and a status, although still considered subservient to men. There are many prominent Muslim legal scholars who are women, some even educated at al-Azhar university (I thanked you for reminding me of the name before, wasn’t sure you saw it. :) and even in Iran where the extreme covering is legally mandatory women do indeed attend university at a higher rate. Blaming a cultural distortion on Islam is a terrible slander. I think women will indeed have a prominent role in the new Egypt, like they had in the ancient one.
Svensker
An article in the Guardian on the muted western govt response — I’m looking at you Mr. Obama — to the revolt in Egypt.
Ash Can
@Yutsano: Of course, this won’t stop any of the local trolls from finding some sensationalistic headline from some backwater village in Libya that ZOMG PROVES IZLAM IZ TEH EBOL AND MUST BE DESTROYED!!elebenty11
Omnes Omnibus
@matoko_chan:
@matoko_chan:
Where you seem to be going astray here is that you are making two unsupported assumptions. First, I have not seen anyone here demonizing or denigrating the MB. As a result, in attacking people on BJ who are attacking the MB, you are launching yourself at a strawman. Second, you seem to believe that the fact that the majority of Egyptians are Moslem means that they will vote for the the MB. This is the same as saying that since Germany is a majority Christian country, the CDU will win every election. Egyptians are probably going to have their religious views in mind as they vote, but that does not mean that they will automatically vote for members of the MB.
piratedan
just ran across a whole buncha WOW!
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/82329/education-reform-Finland-US?page=0,0
all I can say is, its a bleeping shame this common sense approach can be applied here.
Yutsano
@Ash Can: I sooo love the new weapon wifey gave me to counter the Muslims are all ebil line: Kareem Salama. Egyptian from Oklahoma who signs and boxes. Oh and he’s a lawyer too. He even has a drawl, it’s great for making wingnut heads asplode.
matoko_chan
@Omnes Omnibus: blah blah blah. what im OBJECTING to is the premise that jeebus democracy will magically take hold in Egypt. Jeebus democracy has oppressed the shit out of muslims for decades.
It doesnt matter if women or minorities have more rights in jeebus democracy–IT FUCKIN CANT BE DONE.
Morbo
@matoko_chan: The fuck is “jeebus democracy” though?
matoko_chan
you guys are as anti-empirical as conservatives.
PEW survey.
a MAJORITY of egyptians favor gender segregation in the workplace. in a “democracy” dont they get their way? a whopping 95% of egyptians say it is GOOD to have more islamic influence in government.
and you cows are all butthurt because the (boogedy-boogedy!) MB is going to be a majority party.
you cant do anything about it.
matoko_chan
@Morbo: we dont have a secular democracy in America. we have jeebus democracy. anglo-saxon protestant evangelical democracy.
slightly_peeved
@Morbo:
Combining terms for rhetorical effect, as opposed to grounding them in existing concepts; making a genuine exchange of ideas harder, rather than easier.
The term Neal Stephenson uses for it is “bullshytt”.
THE
David Mack sounds a cautious warning.(Foreign Policy)
matoko_chan
@slightly_peeved: liar liar, pants on fire.
read the link cudlip….or should i call you a sline?
One of the two major parties is wholly religious, and has the medieval religious doctrine of ensoulment as part of its platform. Representatives of that party repeatedly define America as a “judeochristian” nation. We have a “judeochristian” (shorthand, jeebus) democracy in America, with a secular judiciary branch composed of unelected elites that keep the majority conservative evangelical christians (or, as i like to call them, jesushumpers) from kicking the shit out of minority and disenfranchised citizens.
Example–we dont live in a Martin Luther King democracy…we live in a Martin Luther democracy. Luther was not for separating church and state, just for separating THE OTHER GUYS (ie Anglican) CHURCH from the state.
all my concepts are grounded IN EMPIRICAL DATA, sline.
sry if it hurrts ur feefees.
matoko_chan
@THE:
nope. we will see the Islamic Republic of Egypt first. Have you seen the protestors in Tahir square?
slightly_peeved
.. she says, quoting a popular article by a theologian.
Theologian’s aren’t scientists, popular articles aren’t academic papers. A comment thread isn’t peer review, and a large number of the concepts in that paper aren’t empirically valid.
Here’s an example of an actual empirical argument. You refer to the ‘majority conservative evangelical christians’. The percentage of the US population that are evangelical christians, as of 2007, is 28.6 percent[1]. This is not a majority. Your assertion is incorrect.
One could hypothesise that this group is disproportionately inclined to contribute heavily to republican causes, and reliably vote for the Republican party, leading the party to favour policies that maintain their popularity among this group. One could then also look at how maintaining their popularity amongst such groups could result in strong results in midterm elections, where general turnout amongst the population is low, but could be a risky strategy in higher-turnout presidential elections. But my point is that none of this is an empirical argument, because at this point I have no data; I’m just speculating. Once I actually collect and present data, I have an empirical argument. And if I don’t bother collecting data, but say I’m making an empirical argument, I’m lying, or ignorant, or I’m just making the word ’empiricism’ mean something other than what it is generally agreed to do.
[1] Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2007.
THE
@matoko_chan:
Have you seen the lastest release of the UN FAO Food Price Index?
matoko_chan
@slightly_peeved: sline. self identified evangelical and believing xians have the right to proselytize is not the same thing.
it pisses you off that America is not a secular nation, doesnt it?
if you poll republicans 90% at least will self identify as xians.
the GOP cannot field a candidate that doesnt endorse religious doctrine, creationism, ensoulment, homophobia etc.
therefore the GOP is a RELIGIOUS party.
evangelisim means “to preach”. America is 70% christian. How many of those people believe in the xian right to preach christian doctrine?
they are nearly all evangelicals, and are just avoiding the brand. Evangelicals are percieved in this country to be unintelligent socially challenged proselytizers, and are justifiably mocked in contemporary culture..
matoko_chan
@slightly_peeved:
which IS historically correct. America is the first experiment in protestant thought, since there was no catholic presence here.
a lot of our misery today is caused by the strong anti-intellectual tradition of protestantism.
noiffer
Stuff
slightly_peeved
So in response to my suggestion that you obfuscate language as a rhetorical device, you write a post that uses two different meanings of the term ‘evangelical’ in two subsequent sentences (unless, of course, you are suggesting that all of American christianity is mocked in popular culture). Somehow, I don’t think you got my point.
Yutsano
@slightly_peeved:
The process of learning can be slow, but it does happen. She’s in a state of certitude dude. She KNOWS she is right about EVERYTHING and there is no convincing her otherwise. You’re better off arguing with Barney Frank’s table.
matoko_chan
@Yutsano: i am right ‘BOUT EVERYTHING. Egypt is 90% muslim. 95% of egyptian muslims think Islam is a good influence on government. half the 95% are XX. You dont know what you’re talking about, and when you get called on it, you adhom.
@slightly_peeved: its called question bias in statistics. if the question was ….’do you believe America is a judeochristian nation’ or ‘do you believe christians have a right to proselytize’ you would get +90% with those views and republicans/conservatives.
Evangelical has a negative connotation in modern culture.
Christian means accepts Christ. Evangelical means believes in preaching Christ. Even christians that dont proselytize themselves, absolutely support their co-religionists preaching and proselytizing. Evangelizing means preaching. Look it up.
Are you saying there is no social capital penalty for admitting to being a WEC? i think you are wrong.
THE
@matoko_chan:
Hey, I saw this interview recently with one of my favorite economists, Yves Smith. She is a writer and blogger.
In this interview with Canadian network BNN, she gave a very interesting response, near the end of the interview, at around the 9:10 mark.
THE
Sorry I forgot the link.
THE
There’s a relevant story here as well.(UK Telegraph)