Who knew that Joyce Carol Oates was this dumb?
And so is CofE: “The Church of England has appointed as Bishop of Sherborne a leading advocate of Christian nudism.”
Why are issues of identity dominating the 2016 campaign?
The famous videos exchanged by Ukraine and Turkey in support of each other’s armed forces.
A review of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book. It has some questionable stuff but also some good points. An interesting, valuable review.
“In recognition of their complicity in ‘structural racism and oppression’ atOccidental College, the faculty will vote on a resolution that mandates diversity training, requires all academic departments to make racial sensitivity a component of in-class instruction, and allows students to “report microaggressions” between students and professors.” I don’t know where this crazy college is and I hope never to find out. Because faculty members that use the word “microaggressions” in official documents are dumb as doorknobs.
Oklahoma Wesleyan University, on the other hand, has at least one intelligent person on campus: “Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a “safe place”, but rather, a place to learn: to learn that life isn’t about you, but about others; that the bad feeling you have while listening to a sermon is called guilt; that the way to address it is to repent of everything that’s wrong with you rather than blame others for everything that’s wrong with them. This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up! This is not a day care. This is a university!”
Caitlyn Jenner is voting Republican. And what did anybody expect given that this is a person who thinks that being a woman is about buying nail polish and choosing outfits?
Negative father complex makes you a prime target for this particular kind of scammer.
The U of Ottawa cancelled a free yoga class because. . . it’s cultural appropriation. Let’s now cancel all of my courses because I’m not Hispanic, which means I’m obviously appropriating.
The really shocking thing about the crazy Momma and the gay teacher is how illiterate both are. They probably attended U of Ottawa.
Clarissa's Blog 
I love Jeet Heer. His twitter ‘essays’ are awesome!
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I never saw him on Twitter but I’ll check him out.
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You follow him on twitter. But then you follow hundreds of people on twitter. I’m at 50 and it already gets overwhelming. Don’t know how you do it!
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Do I? :-))) I’m so out of it today.
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Resettling Syrian Refugees: An Alternative
Economic opportunity closer to home is better than a struggle to integrate abroad.
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The reason large-scale resettlement in Europe is a mistake is not that Syrian refugees are dangerous. Rather, it is a mistake because large-scale resettlement will require an equally large-scale commitment of resources that European governments, and European voters, are unwilling to make.
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Betts and Collier offer a more sustainable solution: Instead of herding refugees into camps where they are forced to subsist on aid, they call for the creation of special economic zones.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/11/syrian_refugee_crisis_an_alternative_to_resettling_refugees_in_europe.html
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Re: An Alternative Economic opportunity closer to home is better than a struggle to integrate abroad.
“The Statue of Liberty Was Originally a Muslim Woman”
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/statue-liberty-was-originally-muslim-woman-180957377/#iyWGAeFERuhbR2Xm.99
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“Never mind that this sort of reaction was the terrorists’ primary purpose in murdering all those innocents.
As always, their ultimate goal is to cause us to respond in ways that make us less than we really are.”
I’m sure the terrorists sought out this journalist personally and communicated their wishes directly. Otherwise, the statement sounds a bit deranged.
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\ “Never mind that this sort of reaction was the terrorists’ primary purpose in murdering all those innocents. …
I’m sure the terrorists sought out this journalist personally and communicated their wishes directly. Otherwise, the statement sounds a bit deranged.
Also, I only now got an idea: if terrorists want you to respond in a certain way, it does not logically follow that you should not respond in this way. May be, as the article I linked to argues, something is a right thing to do regardless of terrorists.
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There is obviously some sort of a very childish form of psychological defense going on with this endlessly repeated point of, “We know what the terrorists want and can thwart them with our powers of mind-reading.” It scares me that this infantile response is so popular among so many people. The response you suggest is more grown-up, for sure.
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obama went to occidental for three years..in LA.. pretty certain. Take that for what its worth
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Could you explain about the negative father complex and this scam? Thanks.
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I’ll put it in a separate post
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What did you find questionable in the review of Coates’ book? One thing I definitely feel is that his prose gets to be a little bit too purple at times. Criticism of his work is so rare that I found this review interesting on just that account.
It’s amazing how he’s been anointed by the establishment media as The Go-To Black Guy To Read On Matters Relating to Race. A friend of mine sent me this picture describing this phenomenon and I can’t stop laughing.
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The author blames Michael Brown for getting killed and I don’t like that. He relies on this very old manipulative trick where he ascribes idiotic opinions to his opponents and then triumphantly demonstrates that these opinions are idiotic. For example,
According to this statement, I’m supposed to be one of those people who believe that Michael Brown “wasn’t a moral agent.” But I don’t believe that at all. I just think that shooting teenagers is not OK. That’s my position on this issue and I don’t appreciate it being contorted into weird shapes by people who don’t accept or understand it.
But I agree that it’s great to have more than one black journalist gain visibility. I love Coates’s journalism, but there is a danger of him being tokenized. And this is precisely why I posted this article. Dialogue is always better than a monologue.
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Thanks. Yeah, I didn’t agree with that part, too.
Another place where he shoots down strawman arguments:
“..that ‘no matter how noble your mission, when you oversimplify the reasons why a poor or an oppressed man lies, cheats, steals, betrays, hates, murders or becomes an alcoholic or addict, you imply that well-to-do, rich and powerful people don’t do these things. But they do.’ Of course they do.”
Nobody implies that. What a silly strawman argument.
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I also didn’t understand why he refers as “less convincing and more doctrinaire” to ‘The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration.’ I loved that article, it was very well-done. It’s OK to be unconvinced but if you want to criticize, let’s see the arguments.
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It’s encouraging to see that at least one member of the Jenner/Kardashian clan is intelligent.
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Serves the idiot Liberals right for celebrating this “hero.”
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White trash always votes Republican.
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Thought I’d promote something for once. Gave this to my girlfriend for her birthday present this year. We’re helping to foster an elephant orphan calf. They send us updates every month with pictures and a link to the zookeeper’s diary (recorded almost every day). Seems to be a very well run operation, so if you are thinking of a gift for an animal-lover in your life, consider doing something like this in their name.
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That is SO COOL. I love this idea! Thank you.
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You’re welcome. We love their updates! And those pictures, god, they hit you right in the feels.
Baby elephants in the nursery unit integrating a newly-arrived orphan into their herd. Look at it!!
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These are so cute. :-)))) I love these elephants.
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Declaring ‘new beginning,’ EU, Turkey seal migrant deal
In return for helping stem flow of migrants to Europe, Ankara will receive €3 billion in aid for Syrian refugees in the country, visa-free travel, and renewed talks on joining the European Union.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4732681,00.html
Ultra-Orthodox rebel against Education Ministry
A message from two of the Councils of the Torah Sages announces that, among other things, there will be no cooperation with the Education Ministry on matters of determining the curriculum, educational staff and student enrolment.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4732679,00.html
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“In return for helping stem flow of migrants to Europe, Ankara will receive €3 billion in aid for Syrian refugees in the country, visa-free travel, and renewed talks on joining the European Union.”
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Our side won’t like to hear what is being said at the moment in utmost secrecy, that the lack of progress towards an agreement with the Palestinians is encouraging the radicals in the Muslim world to target Europe. […] In other words, the message conveyed by the Germans is not so complicated: We are all tied to the same fate. Whoever wants to prevent the spread of terror originating in the Middle East must try to find a solution for reasonable coexistence between Israel and its neighbors. Otherwise, terror will continue to spill over to Europe, and not just because of the Islamic State’s ambition to impose Islam on the world.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4732421,00.html
You don’t agree with this view, right?
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The idea that ISIS cares about Palestinians sounds deeply bizarre to me. I have absolutely no doubt that there will be zero change in its terrorism if Palestinians get statehood.
Here is the basic mistake people are making about these terrorists: like all other criminals, they are not provoked into acts of terror by anything that the victims do. They commit acts of terror because that’s what they want to do. And they will continue committing them entirely irrespective of what the victims do or say. I understand that it’s very scary for victims to accept that they have no control over the actions of the victimizers. But it has to be accepted because that’s the only truth.
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The scariest thing about Islamic State? Its kinder, gentler side.
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Some Syrian citizens under Islamic State control claim that the group’s efforts have helped return some sense of normalcy to their lives, a welcome reprieve from the grueling civil war.
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Given enough time, this captive audience could eventually determine that Islamic State’s harsh system of rule is worth the veneer of peace and normality, and grow to support the group. This is classic Stockholm Syndrome, but on a much wider and far more devastating scale.
There is precedent for such a transformation.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/11/26/the-scariest-thing-about-islamic-state-its-kindler-gentler-side/
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Of course, ISIS would not be able to hold on to the territories for this long if the locals didn’t want them. When the locals don’t want an occupying force, they organize a guerrilla movement. And guerrilla movements are notoriously impossible to beat.
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Some good news
http://www.starrfmonline.com/1.8447885
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Hungarian mayor: Israel behind Paris attacks
Szentgotthárd Mayor Gábor Huszár says ‘business circles which are likely backed by the Jewish state are trying to pit Christian Europe against the Muslims,’ but offers apology after his comments were made public.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4733319,00.html
Arsonist of Jewish-Arab school sentenced to 3 years
Yitzhak Gabai given jail time and ordered to pay compensation after setting fire to a bilingual school in Jerusalem along with two others; judge explains lighter sentence: ‘He meant to damage property, not hurt people.’
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I should thank Putin for going against Turkey since now Turkey needs Israeli gas. I would like to hope the combination of Putin and Israeli gas would make Turks curb their anti-Israeli behavior, but have huge doubts, unfortunately. Immediately after writing the last sentence, I saw the 2nd article I linked to. 😦
Турции нужен израильский газ
В свете обострения в российско-турецких отношениях, Турция заинтересована в сотрудничестве с Израилем и закупках газа.
http://mignews.com/news/economics/041215_65902_17202.html
Мустафа Сарник, посол Турции в ПА, в четверг, 3 декабря, поддержал волну терактов в Израиле, в ходе которой уже 22 израильтянина погибли, начиная с октября, пишет Arutz Sheva.
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Комментарии посла прозвучали после того, как президент Турции Реджеп Тайип Эрдоган выразил свою поддержку волны терактов в Израиле.
Ранее исламистский лидер отметил, что арабо-израильский конфликт является наиболее серьёзным препятствием для достижения мира в регионе.
http://mignews.com/news/arabisrael/041215_83059_68038.html
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I loved Orwell’s “1984” , but now read:
«1984» Оруэлла: голый король
http://www.socialcompas.com/2015/12/01/1984-oruella-golyj-korol/
In addition, turns out that Orwell who wrote an article against antisemitism, wasn’t above engaging in it himself later in life:
// сами характеристики, которые дает Оруэлл «криптокоммунистам» — «евроазиат», «негр», «еврей» — исчерпывающе характеризуют его идейную эволюцию.
Reminded me of reading something similar about Jack London. How his disappointment with socialism affected his view of Jews, whom he associated with this ideology.
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Avoid all information about the lives of the writers you like. You are bound to be disappointed if you don’t.
Writers are like vessels through which beautiful and meaningful things access us. The vessels are often hugely imperfect but that doesn’t change the value of the art they transmit.
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А я не осознавал, что турецкий лицей в Танковом, который то ли разогнали, то ли нет, был основан Фетхуллахом Гюлленом. Это очень любопытная личность: крайне популярный имам, проповедующий европейский путь для Турции.
http://scholar-vit.livejournal.com/445858.html
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