Saturday morning links

"Iranian-Backed ‘Sleeper Cell’ Militants Hibernating in U.S., Positioned for Attack" Not to worry, when some are arrested some idiot liberal judge will let them out with an ankle monitor and everything will be just fine and dandy.

#1 JC on 2018-08-18 08:56 (Reply)

re Iranian sleeper-cells: "They are as good or better at explosive devices than ISIS, they are better at assassinations and developing assassination cells," said Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer who worked to counter Iranian influence in the region. "They're better at targeting, better at looking at things," and they can outsource attacks to Hezbollah.

You know what we're better at? Leveling regimes that send out terrorist sleeper cells.

#2 RebeccaH on 2018-08-18 09:06 (Reply)

Up vote buttons are needed here on the site.

#2.1 XRay on 2018-08-18 10:03 (Reply)

QUOTE:

How does diversity strengthen us?

Diversity has short-term costs, but long-term benefits. Diversity knits together different cultures, creating something greater than the sum of its parts. It also provides network connections from many different places, increasing trade and technological innovation.

The U.S. is a prime example, integrating people from all other the world to create the most dynamic country in the world.

#3 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 10:45 (Reply)

Other examples of powerful nations forged on diverse origins:

Britain: Pre-Celts, Britons, Cornish, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse, Normans, Jews, ...

France: Basques, Catalans, Greeks, Gauls, Romans, Iberians, Franks, Norse, Bretons, Berbers, ...

Spain: Iberians, Greeks, Celts, Romans, Germanics, Iranians, Berbers, Arabs, Basques, Romani, ...

#3.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 11:09 (Reply)

Can't help but notice all of those countries have something else in common, too.

#3.1.1 Christopher B on 2018-08-18 12:20 (Reply)

Doubt the kiddiez can make that connection.

#3.1.1.1 drowningpuppies on 2018-08-18 12:23 (Reply)

U.S., Britain, France, Spain are all open democracies with highly developed economies. At some point, they all controlled vast trading networks.

#3.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 12:28 (Reply)

"Second, while the nation is still affluent, all the diverse races may appear equally loyal. But in an acute emergency, the immigrants will often be less willing to sacrifice their
lives and their property than will be the original descendants of the founder race."

In other words, when push comes to shove will be part of the problem, not the solution.

The above quote is from Sir John Glubb's "The Fate of Empires"

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf

It's a short (24 page) PDF. Some of it makes for an interesting read.

Cheers

#3.2 Russtovich on 2018-08-18 16:20 (Reply)

Russtovich: In other words, when push comes to shove will be part of the problem, not the solution.

The U.S. appears to be a counterexample. Immigrants have volunteered in large numbers to serve in the U.S. military during times of war.

#3.2.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 08:36 (Reply)

"Diversity knits together different cultures"

50% of immigrants still don't speak English after 5 years. Almost 90% speak a language other than English at home. 70% require welfare and other forms of government assistance after 5 years. Seems like we dropped a few stitches in the knitting. I think we might have over done this diversity thingy.

#3.3 OneGuy on 2018-08-19 17:46 (Reply)

OneGuy: 50% of immigrants still don't speak English after 5 years. Almost 90% speak a language other than English at home.

That's typical of immigrant populations through history. The first generation speaks little English, their children are bilingual, their children's children speak English.

OneGuy: [i] 70% require welfare and other forms of government assistance after 5 years.[/i

That conflates immigrants with immigrant households. The latter often includes citizen children who might receive reduced price lunches at school. However, first generation immigrants generally have net cost, while the second generation generally provide net benefit.

#3.3.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-20 08:23 (Reply)

If it has to be "bloody Mary's", it has to be "hangover's". Jeez -

#4 Claritas on 2018-08-18 11:01 (Reply)

Diversity is a dog whistle and doesn't mean what it says. To the illegals it means vote for me and I will get you citizenship. To the gay LGBQT, etc. it means vote for me and I will punish straight white males and Christians to make you feel better about your crappy lives. To women it means vote for me and I will get even with men because somewhere in your life some man dumped you for someone who was attractive or actually enjoyed sex. To the stupid Republicans it means, maybe we should offer citizenship for votes and punish straight white males and Christians for votes.

I remember when I was so naive I actually though diversity meant "me" and everyone else. I soon discovered it really meant everyone else except me.

#5 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-18 11:04 (Reply)

QUOTE:

I remember when I was so naive I actually though diversity meant "me" and everyone else. I soon discovered it really meant everyone else except me.

Was that back when Mammy made sure Scarlett ate her vittles?

#5.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 12:00 (Reply)

That's RAAAAAAACIST.

#5.1.1 Sam L. on 2018-08-18 12:08 (Reply)

His moniker happens to be Gone With the Wind, so the example was apropos.

#5.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 12:14 (Reply)

Gone With The Wind was a great movie, most people agree on that. I was born and lived in Boston so I'm hardly what you claim from your interpretation of my moniker. I selected it because of one scene in the movie where Rhett is telling Scarlet what happened to everything; "It's gone Scarlett, gone with the wind". It struct me as interesting how that applies so often in history. Europe felt that way in 1945. So your wild ass guess was wrong, as usual.

#5.1.1.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-18 12:22 (Reply)

Heh!
😂😂😂

#5.1.1.1.1.1 drowningpuppies on 2018-08-18 12:27 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: Gone With The Wind was a great movie

So was Birth of a Nation from 1915.

GoneWithTheWind: I selected it because of one scene in the movie where Rhett is telling Scarlet what happened to everything; "It's gone Scarlett, gone with the wind".

??

QUOTE:

{Scarlett's thoughts}
Was Tara still standing? Or was Tara also gone with the wind which had swept through Georgia?

GoneWithTheWind: It struct me as interesting how that applies so often in history.

That's fine, but the comment still stands. Most of Congress is old white men. The Republican Party is largely representative of white Christians. The courts are full of old white men. The president and vice president are old white men. What the heck are you snowflaking about?

#5.1.1.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 12:37 (Reply)

What the heck is your problem with white, Christian men? Your SJW slip is showing. You people where so close to having us all in internment camps, but Hillary Clinton will never be president!

#5.1.1.1.1.2.1 B. Hammer on 2018-08-18 13:28 (Reply)

The kiddiezzz seem to have a problem with America in general.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.1.1 drowningpuppies on 2018-08-18 14:09 (Reply)

B. Hammer: What the heck is your problem with white, Christian men?

We have no problem with white, Christian men. Most continue to make very positive contributions. We do question those who whine that they are an oppressed group in the U.S. — against all evidence to the contrary.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.1.2 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 14:36 (Reply)

I don’t know if I would say oppressed, but we are mocked, constantly told we are the most evil part of humanity that has lived upon the earth, all the while stealing as much of our property as possible. We have been blamed for every single bad thing that has happened on earth. In tv shows and commercials through out the land, we are made fun of as being blithering, dolts that would trip over own two feet, and certainly starve to death, if it wasn’t for the white female who takes pity upon us, wipes our chin and tucks us in at night.

“Us”? Just how many of you are there? Do you congregate in an office building some place, gather in the huddle room, a picture of Obama hung prominently on the wall; “oh look, we need to respond to this Maggie’s Farm Post!” “Come on people, let’s show those ignorant conservative, hillbilly, yankee Americans what is what!”

#5.1.1.1.1.2.1.2.1 B. Hammer on 2018-08-18 17:48 (Reply)

B. Hammer: I don’t know if I would say oppressed, but we are mocked, constantly told we are the most evil part of humanity that has lived upon the earth, all the while stealing as much of our property as possible.

You may want to change the channel. The vast majority of media treats white people as the "normal" or default color. It's only very recently that minorities have been portrayed for something beyond being representatives of their minority group.

As for being mocked or considered evil, well, that was pretty much the norm for people of color for most of American history, and continues to today.

B. Hammer: We have been blamed for every single bad thing that has happened on earth.

Every group has made positive and negative contributions, including people of European descent.

B. Hammer: In tv shows and commercials through out the land, we are made fun of as being blithering, dolts that would trip over own two feet, and certainly starve to death, if it wasn’t for the white female who takes pity upon us, wipes our chin and tucks us in at night.

As if women are never subject to negative stereotypes.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.1.2.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 08:42 (Reply)

Exactly!!! Most of congress is old white men. Most of the people who created this country and defended it were white men. Most of the worlds greatest inventions and medical breakthroughs were made by old white men. Why on earth would you choose of all people "old white men" to be prejudice against??? BUT at least you proved my point; I'm 75, white and male and diversity means everyone but me. Thank you for being honest once.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-18 17:49 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: I'm 75, white and male and diversity means everyone but me.

No. Diversity means everybody, but in the U.S. old white men are already widely represented in industry, commerce, and politics.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 09:19 (Reply)

But don't you see by declaring that and acknowledging it that the intent is to ban/restrict them and that is racist? If you aren't racist then it doesn't matter how many white people are doing something, or how many black, hispanic or Asian are doing something. It ONLY matters if YOU are racist. I don't care if mostly blacks, whites, Asians or Hispanics are basketball players or football or hockey or anything. I don't care if mostly whites or Asians study in school and succeed. I don't care that mostly Hispanics work in landscaping and construction. I don't care that most math majors are male. I do not understand why individual choices make liberals act racist. If you want more blacks in science then put your effort into teaching/mentoring more young blacks so they can enter those fields. DON'T prevent those non-blacks from entering or place arbitrary quotas on them. THAT is racist.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-19 10:16 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: But don't you see by declaring that and acknowledging it that the intent is to ban/restrict them and that is racist?

Who's banning white people?

GoneWithTheWind: If you aren't racist then it doesn't matter how many white people are doing something, or how many black, hispanic or Asian are doing something.

Sure it can matter when it's a vestige of historical discrimination or when it's the result of on-going discrimination.

Consider an actual case: A grocery chain didn't have an overt segregationist policy. Instead, they hired people based on recommendations from current white management. Even if the management wasn't bigoted, they tended to associate with other whites, so blacks rarely if ever got hired. And if some were actually bigoted, that just further entrenched the racial bias. Or another example would be legacy admissions to universities.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 16:52 (Reply)

"Who's banning white people? "

Are you kidding? That IS what "diversity" and affirmative action is all about. It is racism pure and simple.

"it can matter when it's a vestige of historical discrimination or when it's the result of on-going discrimination."

I don't want discrimination based on race but that is my point. Diversity and affirmative action as it is practiced in this country IS discrimination based on race and has been since the mid 60's. In other words the racial discrimination against whites by our government is "historical discrimination".

"they hired people based on recommendations from current white management."

Is this racism? It pales compared to hiring minorities based on quotas.
You just don't get it. No one wants racial discrimination but the liberals. End all discrimination based on race.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-19 19:03 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: Is this racism?

It keeps historical discrimination entrenched in society. You complain about discrimination even though whites control nearly every lever of power; political and commercial.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-20 08:27 (Reply)

"You complain about discrimination even though whites control nearly every lever of power"

It begs the question. Whites control a majority of the power because whites are better educated, are the majority and evidence shows they work harder to succeed. This control of power was the natural outcome of that effort. Your "solution" is to set quotas based on race, in other words use racism to gain power. That is wrong, immoral, unfair.

For two people born today of different races they both deserve equal opportunity to succeed. Your plan will use race to hold one back for some fake goal couched as "equality" but what you mean is equality of results and not equality of opportunity. My point is to end racism including your preferred racism. It isn't right and we should not tolerate it. That you don't understand that is very telling.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-20 10:55 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: This control of power was the natural outcome of that effort.

The fact that blacks were enslaved then oppressed, that Indians were ethnically cleansed then oppressed, has nothing to do with it.

GoneWithTheWind: This control of power was the natural outcome of that effort.

We provided two examples of how discrimination can occur even in the absence of bigotry. And bigotry still exists. Just look at your moniker for a brief albeit biased history.

GoneWithTheWind: For two people born today of different races they both deserve equal opportunity to succeed.

Well, that's clearly not the case. You might reasonably argue it has more to do with class than race, but race is still a factor.

GoneWithTheWind: Your plan ...

We didn't propose a plan. We pointed to a problem with merely ignoring the vestiges of racial oppression.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-20 11:29 (Reply)

“Indians were ethnically cleansed then oppressed”
If you bother to read the history the Indians may well have killed more immigrants than immigrants killed Indians. It would be just as fair to say that the Indians were engaged in ethnic cleansing of the immigrants. Oppressed? Probably true. In general the Indians preferred killing the immigrants and their culture didn’t allow them to agree to stop doing that. The immigrants through their government used oppressive methods to stop that killing. So I’ll give you only half a Pinocchio on that point.

“The fact that blacks were enslaved then oppressed”
Yes! Black Africans enslaved other black Africans and sold those slaves to Muslims who in turn sold the slaves to (mostly) European ship captains who brought those slaves to the America’s in almost exactly the way illegal drugs are brought here today. 99.999% of Americans by 1865 had never owned a slave, didn’t ask the Muslims and ship captains to bring them here and did not benefit from those slaves.

“We provided two examples of how discrimination can occur even in the absence of bigotry.”
NO! You provided two examples of unequal results with no proof that anyone was denied equal opportunity.

“And bigotry still exists. Just look at your moniker for a brief albeit biased history.”

Bigotry does exist: Affirmative action and diversity as practiced.
My “moniker” as I explained was about the fleeting reality of life not about slavery or even about the movie. It is simply a reality that one day everything is normal and than due to events beyond your control everything is gone, gone with the wind. You are simply hung up on the wrong thing.

“We pointed to a problem with merely ignoring the vestiges of racial oppression.”
Will this still be true in 100 years? 200? 500? The answer for you and all the other race baiters is yes! You think you have a good thing and you will milk it forever. You will use it to discriminate against people of European descent. Give it a frigging break. Everyone who was a slave in America is dead, everyone who owned slaves in America is dead. 5 generations have passed since the last slave. Get over it. If you really want to figure out what the problem is with black “equality” visit a high school in the inner city, if you dare. This is a cultural and parental problem in the black community NOT a problem caused by whites. Whites have spent about 20 trillion and 50 plus years trying everything to pull blacks out of their stupid black culture and lifestyle with only marginal success. The key to success in America has nothing to do with race it is education, education, education. YOU want to substitute affirmative action.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-20 20:51 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: It would be just as fair to say that the Indians were engaged in ethnic cleansing of the immigrants.

Some Indians violently tried to protect themselves from incursions, but European settlers engaged in an explicit policy of ethnic cleansing, even against peaceful tribes.

GoneWithTheWind: 99.999% of Americans by 1865 had never owned a slave

The 1860 census shows that more than a third of families in the antebellum South owned slaves.

GoneWithTheWind: NO! You provided two examples of unequal results with no proof that anyone was denied equal opportunity.

That is incorrect. The old boy network and legacy admissions deny equal opportunity.

GoneWithTheWind: My “moniker” as I explained was about the fleeting reality of life not about slavery or even about the movie.

That's fine, but you may still be familiar with other aspects of the name relevant to the discussion.

GoneWithTheWind: It is simply a reality that one day everything is normal and than due to events beyond your control everything is gone, gone with the wind.

Normal!! It's Ashley looking over his plantation, "It's a whole world that wants only to be graceful and beautiful. It's so unaware that it may not last," while being provided for by a multitude of slaves.

GoneWithTheWind: Will this still be true in 100 years? 200? 500?

Let's hope not. Anti-Catholic feeling has tempered over time, so the continuation of racism is not inevitable.

GoneWithTheWind: 5 generations have passed since the last slave.

If only the oppression had stopped in 1865. But it didn't.

#5.1.1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-21 09:17 (Reply)

Marx is a dead, white European male too

#5.1.1.1.1.2.3 Otto Maddox on 2018-08-19 03:32 (Reply)

Sorry. The quote above was from the novel, but you were referring to the movie. The only place the phrase “gone with the wind“ appears in the movie is the title card from Ben Becht:

QUOTE:

There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind...

#5.1.1.1.1.3 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 13:40 (Reply)

"The only place the phrase “gone with the wind“ appears in the movie is the title card from Ben Becht:"

It's funny that you said that. Indeed I looked for it and found exactly that comment somewhere on-line. BUT Rhett Butler DID indeed speak those words in the movie. I remember it distinctly. So I assume that either there were two or more different releases of the movie where the line was not spoken OR the source for that is wrong. I absolutely heard it and can still hear it in my mind with the same inflection that old Rhett used. So two times one a single comment you are incorrect. Want to go for three?

#5.1.1.1.1.3.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-18 17:54 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: It's funny that you said that.

We'd be more than happy to issue a correction. The script is on-line. The entire film is readily available. Let us know when you find support for your claim.

#5.1.1.1.1.3.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 08:49 (Reply)

You don't need to issue a correction. I did for you. Rhett absolutely said it, I absolutely heard and saw it and the internet source is wrong (as internet sources often are. I concede that it is quite probable that there was more than one release of the movie where that phrase may not have been in the script. I only say that because it does in fact happen with almost every movie so it is a logical explanation. It's kinda like fake news where most of the media knowingly tells lies and then acts defensive when called on it.

#5.1.1.1.1.3.1.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2018-08-19 10:21 (Reply)

GoneWithTheWind: Rhett absolutely said it

If you say so.

Note that we provided the script and access to the actual movie. You provided the benefit of your memory.

#5.1.1.1.1.3.1.1.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 16:55 (Reply)

Rhett Butler didn't have much use for flowery language. Scarlett and Rhett:

"Don’t you ever say pretty things, Captain Butler?”

“Would it please you if I said your eyes were twin goldfish bowls filled to the brim with the clearest green water and that when the fish swim to the top, as they are doing now, you are devilishly charming?”

“Oh, I don’t like that."

#5.1.1.1.1.3.1.2 Zachriel on 2018-08-19 09:17 (Reply)

Not wanting to speak for GWTW, but I'd say you pretty much have it right. It's just a continuation of Democrat.

#5.1.2 mudbug on 2018-08-18 12:11 (Reply)

mudbug: but I'd say you pretty much have it right. It's just a continuation of Democrat.

Sure, because 19th century Democrats were all about equal rights for people of color.

#5.1.2.1 Zachriel on 2018-08-18 12:16 (Reply)

Yep, and today's Dems are all about stifling the diversity of ideas by censorship and intimidation.
Not much has changed.
😂😂😂

#5.1.2.1.1 drowningpuppies on 2018-08-18 12:32 (Reply)

Trump would like to murder people without due process?
Does that mean he has a disposition matrix like Obama?

#6 Ray on 2018-08-18 11:13 (Reply)

That must be a 3 foot diameter pizza? Or is it baked from a rectangle, cut into wedges? What are all the condiments? Does look yummy.

#7 B. Hammer on 2018-08-18 11:13 (Reply)

Similar, better & cheaper YUGE "slices"
at Duccini's at 18th & S Sts./Florida Ave. N.W. in Washington, D.C..

#8 Kauf Buch on 2018-08-18 11:29 (Reply)

Colleges and Universities are now religious institutions.

The American Scholar: On Political Correctness
William Deresiewicz

QUOTE:

What does it mean to say that these institutions are religious schools? First, that they possess a dogma, unwritten but understood by all: a set of “correct” opinions and beliefs, or at best, a narrow range within which disagreement is permitted. There is a right way to think and a right way to talk, and also a right set of things to think and talk about. Secularism is taken for granted. Environmentalism is a sacred cause. Issues of identity—principally the holy trinity of race, gender, and sexuality—occupy the center of concern. The presiding presence is Michel Foucault, with his theories of power, discourse, and the social construction of the self, who plays the same role on the left as Marx once did. The fundamental questions that a college education ought to raise—questions of individual and collective virtue, of what it means to be a good person and a good community—are understood to have been settled. The assumption, on elite college campuses, is that we are already in full possession of the moral truth. This is a religious attitude. It is certainly not a scholarly or intellectual attitude.

https://theamericanscholar.org/on-political-correctness/#.W3g--8InZtR

#9 feeblemind on 2018-08-18 11:55 (Reply)

Photo is a big slice in Yonkers

Where's the knife and fork?

If this were a Trump dictatorship, we'd all be eating our slice with a knife and fork.

#10 JK Brown on 2018-08-18 12:54 (Reply)

"If this were a Trump dictatorship, we'd all be eating our slice with a knife and fork.".
Must not be a Trump dictatorship, then. We'll just have to leave the honor a little more locally, with Comrade de Blasio, who is busy putting the "Dick" back in "Dictatorship".

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/nyregion/de-blasio-skewered-for-eating-pizza-with-utensils.html

#10.1 Aggie on 2018-08-18 14:39 (Reply)

"John Brennan’s Trumpian Turn"

It happens so fast. Why just a few months ago Samantha Power was advising Trump "not a good idea to piss off John Brennan."

#11 JK Brown on 2018-08-18 13:00 (Reply)

Corn and sugar subsidies are destroying the soil, thus requiring fertilizers that mess up the ground water and beaches. Our forefathers first did that with tobacco, but then they moved west to do the same thing all over again. What have we not learned about the dust bowl days of old?

I cringe every time I drive across the prairie. Too much of one crop; too little management. The soil looks and feels sick. No amount of fertilizer handles that in the long run.

#12 jma on 2018-08-18 20:49 (Reply)

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Saturday, August 18. 2018

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