The News Thread

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Is this your subtle way of being unifying?

Rotfl. A touch, a definite touch!

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Is this your subtle way of being unifying?

No way!

While the idealist in me would like to include everyone, the realist in me knows that a good 20-30% are a hopeless cause. Buckley would be in that boat.

Some diseases can be cured, others have to be amputated.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

No way!

While the idealist in me would like to include everyone, the realist in me knows that a good 20-30% are a hopeless cause. Buckley would be in that boat.

Some diseases can be cured, others have to be amputated.

Wow. Triage of 1/5 to 1/3rd. In the US that would be, approximately, 100,000,000 people.

Just shoved off the lifeboat.

As Jon Stewart so memorably said, "Does this town need a hug?"

[hectorberlioz]

What do people think is so funny about Jon Stewart? I just' don't get it. He isn't funny.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

What do people think is so funny about Jon Stewart? I just' don't get it. He isn't funny.

Well, I don't have cable, so I don't know what he does as a regular business. But I thought his Oscar hosting was a hoot. I far prefered it to Billy Crystal, for example. It was wry.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Don't miss the comments.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs...D=200880103028

[The Gaffer]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

What do people think is so funny about Jon Stewart? I just' don't get it. He isn't funny.

Yes he is. His humour is both subtle and blunt at the same time. Frankly, it's the best political satire on TV at the moment.

[GrayMouser]

Don't know if this should have gone in the Star Wars section, but some headline writer had fun coming up with this:

Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...le/2007/05/03/

[Mari]

New Russian PM

"I think (my presidency) will be a direct continuation," he said, referring to Mr Putin's eight years in office.

Yes, you and everyone else.

Some to the Netherlands related news:
He looks like an idiot, talks like and idiot, acts like an idiot and is going to get terrorists to focus on the Netherlands... Geert Wilders
My mum asked me this morning to please be careful when I go to Leiden. Because of this film my mother is worrying about my safety when I am travelling home to go to school.
At least the Dutch Muslim community is staying calm and reasonable.
And our government is actually taking a stance.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said there were "major concerns at home and abroad that the film could be offensive and could lead to reactions that endanger public order, security and the economy".

"The Netherlands has a tradition of freedom of speech, religion and lifestyle," he said.

"The Netherlands also has a tradition of respect, tolerance and responsibility. Unnecessarily offending certain groups does not belong here."

How far is freedom of speech supposed to go?! The worst thing is IMO that this is creating an environment in which it is wrong to be a Muslim, that being a Muslim is considered to be equal to being a terrorist. It worries me.

[Earniel]

Kind of funny -in a sad way, though- how everyone is getting worked up over a short film that no one has actually seen.

[Mari]

Yeah and I wonder if it ever will come out, but that doesn't take away the fact that a lot of people are indeed getting worked up about it. Very much worked up in some cases.
And I hate it that my mother is scared for me because Wilders has to go and deliberately offend/attack the Muslim society.
Let's just hope he gets kicked out of politics in the next elections.

[Insidious Rex]

Didnt he just gain seats recently and get awarded politician of the year? Are there really that many people there who agree with his kind of anti-muslim intolerance? And how can he come down so hard on immigration when he has a Hungarian wife?

[Mari]

He was voted politician of the year by the parliamentarian press, because "he dominated public debate" (i.e. he was being a pain in the ... and overall being an .....). At the same time he was voted worst politician 2007 by both members of parliament and the public.
And I didn't know about the Hungarian wife so I just read up on it, but I don't think it has been brought up in parliament yet so there has been no general discussion. Anyway, Wilders has changed his POV several times in his career so I'm sure he will find a way out of this one.

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Kind of funny -in a sad way, though- how everyone is getting worked up over a short film that no one has actually seen.

Yes, people are mostly worked up about things they haven't seen, I notice.

[Nerdanel]

This is oldish news (a few days), I know.. But you all noticed how the Israeli defence minister threatened the Palestinias with holocaust, right?

AlJazeera
BBC

[Mari]

This morning another horrible news item popped up, yes

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Mari

[...] because Wilders has to go and deliberately offend/attack the Muslim society.

On the other hand you can't really blame Wilders that a lot of very exitable guys are convinced it's okay to condemn an entire nation for one small film made by one countryman, and that it's therefore okay to utter death threats to any inhabitant who happens to share the same land or to decide to punish the entire country economically.

[Mari]

Off course you're right about that. But Wilders is doing exactly the same, or at least people think he is, by implying that the Islam equals terrorism. The condemning thing I mean, not the getting excited part.

[inked]

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

No way!

While the idealist in me would like to include everyone, the realist in me knows that a good 20-30% are a hopeless cause. Buckley would be in that boat.

Some diseases can be cured, others have to be amputated.

I note again for the record that BJ thinks his views are the most correct, implying he observes a standard against which other views are to be judged, in short, an absolute.

BUT THE REAL NEWS is...

The Healer: Bob Geldof reports on the presidential trip to Africa - and why the continent's rebirth is the Bush Administration's greatest achievement
http://www.time.com/time/photogaller...717300,00.html

The whole article is in March 3, 2008 TIME ( volume 171, number 9, pages 38-39).

"The great unacknowledged story of America in Africa.... was accelerated hugely by him, argued for by him and monitored by him"

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by inked

I note again for the record that BJ thinks his views are the most correct, implying he observes a standard against which other views are to be judged, in short, an absolute.

Actually, I know they are the most correct, to me, in the same way that everyone else formulates opinions. If there is any standard, it's purely my own. In short, a relative point of view.