Purely for entertainment purposes, NSFWCorps’ The Ward Nerd (John Dolan)
… There’s an idea in the progressive Twitter-sphere at the moment that jihadis are just a figment of scared Fox-News victims’ imagination. Well, that’s a reasonable point if you live in North Carolina or any of the other six states that have officially banned Sharia Law. None of the legislators who passed these bills know anything about Sharia, and none but the real loonies among them think it’s a threat to take over Oklahoma or South Dakota. It’s just an excuse to grandstand for the Teabaggers who are old and cranky enough to show up for every midterm election when the rest of us have better things to do.
And, of course, the few real nuts who do think Sharia is an imminent threat are exactly the kind of people who’d enjoy life under Sharia law, where burglars lose a hand and stonings let your average rightwing retiree take a direct role in minding other peoples’ marital business.
The problem is that, when you’re an American progressive reading daily accounts of these cretins’ latest legislative victories, you pretty much have to push back, and in the process of pushing back you end up falling for your own version of American exceptionalism, which says that there can’t really be such a thing as a crazy jihadi, that those people are just misunderstood liberals who, if the US let them alone and Israel stopped provoking them, would think pretty much like us…
The truth about the clash of civilizations you hear people discussing is that it’s all the other way: The Mall is invading Islam, the Mall is taking over. There isn’t any Sharia Law in North Carolina, but there damn well are US-style malls in even the most conservative Islamic countries.
In Najran, in the most remote corner of Saudi Arabia, a state so afraid of Western contamination that it doesn’t even issue tourist visas, there is a mall. And, when I lived there, you could watch —literally watch—the conflict between Sharia Law and Mall culture, five times a day…
It was such a huge relief to come out of that sun and into the wide, cool, tinted-glass mall. The sun hurts in Najran, and the landscape has no color but army khaki, burnt sienna, ochre—all the least-favorite crayons in the box. You go in the mall and the logos of all the high-end retailers of Europe and Asia wink at you, and there are even chairs and benches for the tired grandmother to slump in while the kids try their skate-shoes on the marble floors. No one is contesting the space with you, for once. The sweat dries, you feel more benevolent as you relax, no longer fighting other drivers for the right to continue living. You’re almost anonymous, a very rare thing in places like Najran.
Naturally, the whole town comes to the mall whenever it can. And naturally, the state, or the local culture—Saudi Arabia doesn’t attempt to separate those concepts—did its best to hold the alien element of the mall at bay. The most dramatic demonstration of this containment effort came at prayer time…..
As always, you’ve got 47 hours to enjoy the whole thing, unless you decide to subscribe. In which case you get The War Nerd, plus Leigh Cowan talking about science & porn & pornographic science, and Yasha Levine hating on California sprawlmeisters and Cory Booker, and Mark Ames on workplace violence, and a whole bunch more fine entertainment.
Apart from cheering the creeping collapse of global fundamentalism, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
lamh36
Kaiser Family Foundation has a Health Reform Quiz up on this website. It’s the 10 big questions about ACA that has been the most talking about and which has the most “misinformation” being pushed about it.
I’ve been posted the blurbs to my FB page for my peeps to read.
My plan is to continue to post as much as possible as often as possible.
Anyway, I got an 8 out of 10 (I plan to wording of the question…I was robbed of a perfect score…lol)
Here is the quiz: http://kff.org/quiz/health-reform-quiz/
If you like it, share it.
RSA
That was awesome. I half-wish I could shop at a HyperPanda, though the risk of death due to a forgotten credit card is somewhat off-putting.
JPL
@lamh36: Well nine out of ten for me.
lamh36
@JPL: it’s obvious by the fact that I don’t proofread my post that maybe it wasn’t the wording of the questions, it was my own eyes…lol
Also, I posted the following on my FB page (and a Natural AA Hair group page I follow on FB). I’m thinking I’ll make it a blog post too.
Trying to inform minds in my little burb one read at a time…lol
marshall
I am afraid that today the jihad struck back.
Elizabelle
Odd and bad timing for this article on a day when at least 39 are dead at a shopping mall in Nairobi.
R-Jud
@lamh36: I also got 9/10; thanks for that. Wingnutty relatives on FB have been unusually active lately.
Splitting Image
I don’t think jihadis are necessarily a myth, but I do think that the teabaggers are completely incapable of telling them from other Muslims. Basically, they want to have simple ways of telling who America’s Enemies are, like women wearing the niqab or men growing their beards long.
In fact, and this applies to American conservatives as well, there is a big difference between being conservative, even very conservative, and being crazy. A lot of the teabaggers act crazy because they think it is the same thing as being conservative, and the same people tend to assume that any Muslim who strikes them as conservative must also be crazy.
kindness
Man, we need more pitchforks, torches & guillotines.
Mike in NC
Now if only the local travel agency that’s always listing trips to Branson, MO could trying signing up the stupid teabaggers to check out Najran.
Ideally by offering one-way tickets.
Captain Comrade
Who do you plan to kill, kindness?
lamh36
Soo, guess what day it is???
“Do you remember?…Ba-di-ya!!!!”
Earth Wind and Fire – September
schrodinger's cat
I don’t have much personal experience with Islamic fundies but the only other fundies that I have had some experience with, besides the ones that lub bebbeh Jeebus, are Hindu fundies in India. And let me tell you that they are as bad or worse than the evangelical kind. Their persecution complex and victim mentality is through the roof.
NobodySpecial
You know what irritates me the most about that article?
That fact that it’s behind a pay wall and I get subjected to Chuck Cabbagebeater for free by my local paper.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: Worse than Auburn fans?
scav
@lamh36: Yoikes, I got 9/10 and I’ve not been obsessively reasearching the topic. How out of it are people?!
raven
@marshall: I assume Anne was aware of that
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@lamh36: 10/10. :-)
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
raven
My bride went to a “white party” out in the country sporting her new white go-go boots. She called for the directions from her FB and when I read them the hostess said “because of the rain and mud I’m asking everyone to take off their shoes before they come in”!
Chris
@Splitting Image:
I don’t think jihadis are a myth either. I think jihadis having the power to write their religion into the legal code anywhere in the United States, let alone the kind of places that pass “anti Sharia Law” legislation, is a myth, hence the opposition. Like communists fifty years ago, jihadis are an enemy that has no presence within U.S. borders apart from foreign agents and a few crazies. (The actual “lone wolves.”)
There’s a bunch of reason for the association of “Muslim” with “jihadi.” One is simply throwing it out as liberal bait – they know if they do it, we have to respond, at which point they go on a whole tangent of “why do you care about terrorists more than your own people? You’re traitors!” Another is that their ideology demands an underlying cultural explanation for that behavior that can reinforce their “our tribe is better than everyone else’s” narrative – so you can never admit that the jihadis are simply the functional equivalent of Christian warlords running around Africa with Pat Robertson’s money. (Or even our own abortion bombers right here at home).
The simplest reason, though? It’s that their base is too fucking stupid/ignorant to be able to define the enemy in any terms narrower than “Muslim.” These guys can’t grasp any distinction even as broad as “Sunni/Shi’a,” let alone more complicated words like “Salafi.” They, to the teabagger base, truly to all look alike.
Roger Moore
@lamh36:
Woo-hoo! !0 out of 10.
WereBear
@lamh36: I was listening to that CD this morning :)
The song is one of my favorites.
weaselone
I don’t think Jihadis are a myth. I just don’t think they’re hiding in my toaster.
MomSense
@marshall:
My friend lives there but thankfully wasn’t at the mall when this happened. I was very worried until I heard from her.
lamh36
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: @Roger Moore:
Damnit! Now I know I was robbed…lol.
I’ve gotta take my time reading these darn online quizzes…lol
Mike G
@Chris:
It’s that their base is too fucking stupid/ignorant to be able to define the enemy in any terms narrower than “Muslim.”
We’re talking about people who have little or no experience with other cultures, mostly by arrogance and deliberate choice, the willfully-culturally-ignorant.
It’s a real problem in parochial parts of the US; in other western countries there is plenty of foreign culture (frequently American culture) in the mass media, whereas here everything is through the lens of national solipsism, even without getting into the cynical turbo-jingoism of Faux News and rabies radio.
Bigots are usually not very discriminating in their discrimination.
Roger Moore
@Splitting Image:
This. Jihadis aren’t a myth, but jihadis who are going to impose Shariah Law in Oklahoma are.
@Chris:
I don’t think you can ignore the extent to which Christian Fundamentalists have a persecution complex. Jesus said that it’s righteous to be persecuted for believing in him*, so there are a lot of fundamentalists who desperately want to be persecuted to prove how righteous they are. When they aren’t actually persecuted because they’re the ones doing the persecuting, they’re left making up imaginary persecution to make themselves feel righteous. Jihadists who are just about to impose Shariah law in middle America are part of the general persecution complex.
*e.g. Matthew 5:11-12:
khead
Weird. I hadn’t stopped by BJ for a while – I was too busy checking point spreads – yet I just posted the Kaiser Quiz to my FB page. 8 of 10.
Roger Moore
@weaselone:
So Quinoa Qrunch burger isn’t part of the jihadist conspiracy?
schrodinger's cat
@raven: What are Auburn fans like?
khead
@Roger Moore:
Solid.
More solid than those burgers, at least.
Redshirt
@Chris: Technically, there were active Communists working within the US border at pretty much all times during the Cold War. But not to the extent McCarthy and pals would have anyone believe. And we know from 9/11 at least that there have been Jihadis living in America planning terrorist deeds. But no where near the amount a Wingnut would believe.
raven
@schrodinger’s cat: Their persecution complex and victim mentality is through the roof.
SIA
@lamh36: I got 9 out of 10, and tweeted it (can’t believe I just wrote that).
BD of MN
@lamh36: 10 out of 10 for me, and I posted it to my fb with the message “If you’re anti-Obamacare, I bet you get more than half of these wrong…” It’ll be interesting to see if any of my winger friends and family take the bait…
different-church-lady
Look, I know it’s not addressing the central point of the article, but as of late I’d say the idea that the progressive twittersphere is any less divorced from reality than the conservanut version is no longer operable.
beer time somewhere
Wahoo, got 9 of 10.
Oh yeah, I’m a Canuckistani.
If I can figure it out why can’t the Goopers?
Shit, talk about fucked up.
khead
@different-church-lady:
When was that thought operable?
katie5
Just got my acknowledgement from MARC on behalf of Tunch. Bittersweet memory.
max
{boggles} Besides the fact that Twitter Is Stupid, I have never operated on the theory that jihadis don’t exist or are liberals. I’ve always thought of them as much a less spoiled version of crazy Baptists. This is why I don’t have an issue with drones.
If the US stopped buying trouble by trying to fix things for Israel, we’d suffer a lot less damage from jihadis. It’s actually a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to stop them over here than to try and fight them on their own turf, and there’d be a lot fewer of them to stop in the first fucking place.
Containment WORKS. Rollback doesn’t.
max
[‘Not a bad column otherwise.’]
Chris
@Redshirt:
Right. That’s what I mean. Were there Communists in America? Yes, but not in any way that mattered. They were either KGB agents, or the occasional oddball ideologues – and these ideologues were never in a position to be a meaningful political force like the Communist Parties in, say, France or Italy (and even those guys were never in a position to take over the system). Same thing with jihadis now.
Another useful commonality between the two is that the broader left-wing community in America (back when there actually was one) was happy to participate in tracking down actual Reds. Liberals like Walter Reuther and Hubert Humphrey supported the purge of communists from politics in the fifties (if anything they went too far); unions like the AFL-CIO actually cooperated with the CIA’s anticommunist activities in Europe, providing cover for field officers, etc. The left wing in America was by and large loyal to the country and not sympathetic to communism. Everything we’ve seen since 9/11 indicates the same thing about the Muslim American community – I remember reading that the FBI was trying to infiltrate moles into the radical Muslim groups here in the States, except the Muslim community already self-polices so well that their moles were getting reported to the authorities as soon as they did anything suspicious.
sharl
@different-church-lady: Isn’t that kinda like saying that christians don’t accept the basic reality of evolution or global warming as fact? Sure, some christians don’t – e.g., the biblical fundies such as Southern Baptists – but many christians have no problem with the scientific reality of either of those things.
In the same way, the “progressive” twittersphere has quite a bit of variety to it, and it’s painting with a broad brush to say they all believe one thing or the other. It’s easy to nutpick from that bunch to win an argument (pro- or anti-leftie), but until a Diversity in Nutpicking Act becomes Law of the Land, it will be best to not go with any one person’s representation of the Left, with or without freshly picked tweets.
Besides, The Left is already on Twitter, though as was the case back when he had an active blog, it’s hard to get him to focus on a topic, political or otherwise; so he’s not a particularly reliable go-to resource.
S. Holland
9 out of 10, but what do I know, I’m just a 70 year old lady who is quite proud of my President and loathes teabaggers
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
This supposed Irish pub I’m at has corned beef and cabbage, but no Magner’s. I sense shenanigans, and not the good kind.
Thor Heyerdahl
@beer time somewhere:
[wingnut on]Cuz you got socializm health care up thar you homo marryin’ dope smokin’ commie lovers…a friend’s cousin’s roommate’s uncle had to wait three months for elective surgery and he din’t have financial problems aftah…the free market makes sure he gets all the wrong tests and pays the most to god loving inserence companies[wingnut off]
(full disclosure…proud of Tommy Douglas’ medicare legacy as a fellow Canuck)
Kyle
I don’t know anyone who thinks/thought like this. The closest analog to this mindset were the neocon cretins who thought Iraq would turn into a pliant pro-Western client state through US invasion — the magical thinking that Saddam and his inner circle was the only thing holding back Iraq from being the fulfillment of conservatives’ fantasies.
There will always be some violent religious nutbags in the Middle East, just as there will always be some violent religious nutbags in the US. That doesn’t mean they’re poised to impose burkas on the women of Guymon, Oklahoma. But it’s highly likely that certain ego-driven stupid actions of the US government have done more to fuel jihadism than degrade it.
jl
@Roger Moore: But they R doing it wrong, not following the instructions! They are supposed to rejoice and be glad in experiencing the humbility of being persecuted by mean and selfish worldly people. And then they are supposed to have compassion for the poor lost souls and think of ways to help them. Buddhism gives the same kind of advice.
Instead they get resentful and angry and scared, and whine, and cook up ways to punish people who don’t believe exactly what they do.
What we have here is a failure to communicate.
Well, Jesus also said ‘those who have ears to hear, let them hear’. So, not sure it is the J man’s fault.
IowaOldLady
10/10
The one I hesitated over was whether there’d be a new government run plan on the exchanges competing with private ones. It was the “new” that clued me in finally.
burnspbesq
What sort of moron writes crap like this?
Listen up, jackass, and listen carefully: you NEVER have ANYTHING better to do than to show up for midterm elections.
Sheesh.
Anne Laurie
@khead: No, you misunderstand the premise. “Different Church Lady” is an authoritarian whose mission is to remind us that, were it not for the “progressives” (emoprogs, firebaggers, Snowald groupies), we could line up behind a True Leader and march in glorious lockstep to #WinTheFuture, just like the Repubs do. No DFHs for DCL!
MomSense
@Anne Laurie:
An authoritarian?? That is just silly.
Anne Laurie
@MomSense: All I ever see of DCL’s comments are deploring the “unrealistic” unruly left-of-centrists for not getting with the program, because we’re just shirking our responsiblity. That reads “authoritarian” to me. Democratic/DLC authoritarian, possibly, but it is what it is.
danielx
Saturday night and gloating over today’s score, a twelve inch Lodge cast iron skillet purchased at a garage sale for…fifty cents. Have to clean it and reseason it, but…details, details.
On another note, key to the smoking cessation process – keep repeating to yourself: other human beings are not trying to piss you off and frustrate you by existing, nor are cats or inanimate objects. It’s all in your head….
chopper
@Anne Laurie:
You got a wacko definition of “authoritarian”.
MomSense
@Anne Laurie:
I think the word authoritarian is being thrown around now in a very casual manner. Authoritarianism is serious and the usual firebagger v obot nonsense hardly goes to that extreme. Authoritarian regimes behave in an extra legal fashion, not accountable to constitutional limitations, repress freedom of thought and speech, etc.
Liquid
Someone must have thought of this but — The most unrealistic part of GTA V is that you can’t check your phone in the movie theater. — Tweet that shit!
JPL
@Anne Laurie: I don’t feel that way but in the word of your former Senator..bqhatevwr…
Belafon
@burnspbesq: I would suggest you go back and find the post where DougJ admits he didn’t show up for an election in NY. Just because people should be voting doesn’t mean they are.
raven
@danielx: Heat them, put peanut oil in then add salt and scour with paper towels.
Yatsuno
@lamh36: 9/10, but only because I messed up on the clicks.
scav
American gun use is out of control. Shouldn’t the world intervene?
Opinion piece, but that’s a statistic to stop one in our tracks.
geg6
@lamh36:
That was my class song! Love it! It always makes me wanna dance.
JPL
@raven: It’s a good idea to put it in the oven at 250 for about an hour, too.
How’s the pup?
raven
@JPL: Not great. He yelps when he moves suddenly and I don’t like the tone. This is not the first time, he’s nine and loves to chase the ball so I’ve tried to limit how much he does. He’s also clingy and he’s usually not like that with me. If the ol lady would get her butt home from all her frickin parties he and I would both be happier!
burnspbesq
@Belafon:
DougJ is an idiot? Quel surprise.
khead
@Anne Laurie:
I’d just like an answer to my question. If my FB feed is any indication, someone had better come up with some seriously stupid shit from progressives if they want to make the claim I questioned. Twitter. Facebook. Internet. This galaxy. Don’t care.
khead +
different-church-lady
@khead: I dunno… two, three years ago?
@Anne Laurie: I rest my case.
khead
@different-church-lady:
Well, that narrows it down.
JPL
@raven: You can deal with it but the pup needs extra love.
burnspbesq
Pirates’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth is down to three.
And now for the only important sporting event of the day: Galaxy – Sounders.
different-church-lady
@Anne Laurie: I don’t care if far left progs “get with the program”. I only care when they say wacky-ass shit that hurts progress.
You’re too smart for the binary construct, so why you gotta slum it?
different-church-lady
@MomSense: I don’t enjoy a left-o-sphere where anyone who disagrees with the president is labeled an emo-prog, and everyone who criticizes actual emo-progs is an authoritarian.
It’s about what people actually say, not which side you take.
But, you know, boxes have gotta be filled, so I guess my being crammed into one is just part of the lumps.
SiubhanDuinne
@burnspbesq:
I know nothing of John Dolan, but I took that line as complete snark.
some guy
speaking of jihadi’s, today was another red letter day for our Al Qaeda allies in Syria. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/09/2013920164342453621.html
MomSense
@different-church-lady:
If that were a box, I wouldn’t mind too much being crammed into it. For the most part though I don’t like the binary constructs much myself.
SiubhanDuinne
Sobering: I just learned that I am only one degree of separation from one of the people killed today at the mall in Nairobi. I didn’t know her personally, but we have a friend/colleague in common.
aimai
The husband of a friend of mine was killed in the Khobar towers blast, years ago.@SiubhanDuinne:
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
that first part alone should be enough to get you suspicious.
Roger Moore
@danielx:
Some people need to keep repeating those things even when they aren’t trying to stop smoking.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
Same for me.
mai naem
I’ve been following the Kenyan terrorist attack a little today. There was a tweet from somebody saying that one of the gunmen asked an Asian Hindu hostage who the mother of the prophet was and shot the guy dead because the guy didn’t know the answer. I don’t understand these whackjobs. Jeebus, can we not just fucking just leave each other’s religions alone within reason.
Gravenstone
@beer time somewhere:
Because they don’t want to figure it out. It interferes with their victimization complex.
Belafon
@burnspbesq: The point being, you wrote this:
When we have plenty of evidence that people don’t vote even though they should have. Your holier-than-thouness needs to be checked a bit.
Roger Moore
@Belafon:
Look who you’re talking to. That has about as much chance of happening because you say so as Cole does of not injuring himself.
The Other Bob
@lamh36:
Got 10/10 and posted it to FB.
Mike E
8/10, but I ride a rainbow unicorn/pony.
Just witnessed my local symphony perform Beethoven’s 9th. Too fast, but they rocked it.
kindness
@Captain Comrade: I’m not killing anyone. Bad karma. But the TeaHaddists have me frying lately.
Angela
@lamh36: 8 of 10. Posted to FB; awaiting the incoming from rw relatives!
Yatsuno
@kindness: It has edges of Brick Oven goodness, but it just comes up short.
eemom
@Anne Laurie:
Man, you really are a fucking moron.
I take back every quasi-qualm I’m ever had about calling out your bullshit before.
divF
Re: KFF quiz – 9/10. Got the medicare tax increase question wrong, and I’m glad I was wrong about it.
Jewish Steel
@lamh36: 9/10 Hey, hey!
Jewish Steel
@divF: Me too!
burnspbesq
@Belafon:
Not on that issue. Not EVER on that issue. And you’re just as bad as the rest for suggesting it.
jheartney
@burnspbesq: The “War Nerd” nym’s writings have always had a certain hyper-cynical tongue-in-cheek quality. In his world, genocidal murderers have a certain honest barbarism, in contrast to other world leaders who, for example, watched passively as the Syrian Alawites massacred 100k with high explosives, but then hit the fainting couches when they killed a couple thousand more with poison gas. I think his general take on voting is that with a little luck it may not do much harm. Not much good, but not much harm.
Note: these are his expressed opinions, not mine.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@eemom: The whole (several generations removed from being) Irish act is pretty fucking obnoxious and stupid, too.
John Revolta
@mai naem:The point is, they were asking people if they were Muslim and then killing them accordingly. I don’t imagine many people said “no”, so further tests became necessary.
Hmmmm……….. pardon me while I go look that shit up.
different-church-lady
@eemom: See, now the difference between you and me is that I decided to just give her the benefit of sarcasm or satire and move on, even if she wasn’t in fact doing either.
Ramalama
I think I’ve seen mention of NSFWCorps but have never gone there until now. Really interesting writing. I’ve now become a subscriber, so thanks for that.
Micheline
I got 10 out of 10.
NonyNony
@burnspbesq:
Dude you’re a tax attorney. You live in a giant glass house when it comes to moral authority. You should not be casting stones at anyone – especially people who work for a goddamn living (unlike you) and so can’t get off their crummy jobs (unlike you) to go stand in lines in precincts that have been artificially denied voting machines (unlike your precinct).
Get off your high horse – it’s impossibly difficult for some people in this country to vote and you’re a rich guy speaking from a position of privilege who makes his living as a parasite on the back of larger parasites. Try recognizing your goddamn privilege sometime and maybe, just maybe you might turn into a better person.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@MomSense:
Firebaggers and PUMAS are wont to misuse language to make a point.
The RBC understands this, and lets it go.
Donald
” actual emo-progs ”
A person who thinks this is a useful category isn’t “authoritarian”–it’s just a person who wants a convenient dismissive label to use in place of an argument. For a very long time, people in the center left have used labels like this to dismiss people to further to their left.
The whole firebagger/Obot/emo-prog argument in the comments section of this blog is stupid, at least when I’ve visited. Lots of insults,and not much else. Maybe you all know each other too well and can’t be bothered to say anything worth reading.