Reason Morning Links: Daley Won't Run for Reelection, Obama Won't Renew Bush Tax Cuts, Tourism Tax Kicks In Today

• Richard Daley to step down after 21 years as Chicago mayor.
• U.S. steps up drone attacks in Pakistan.
• U.S. hopes to increase tourism . . . by taxing tourists.
• Obama says he won't compromise on promise not to renew Bush tax cuts.
• Iran suspends sentence of woman condemned to death by stoning for alleged adultery.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

I can only assume you old farts demanded larger fonts. Next you'll be demanding a Reason early bird dinner special.

[Tim]

Get off my porch! (shakes fist)

[Almanian]

Damn, you, Tim, with your quick typing skills and similar thoughts!

And better spelling!!

*pisses self, totters off in the wrong direction*

[Tim]

Teabagger!

[Almanian]

Get off my lawn, FoT, or so help me, I'll call your father, ya little bastard!

*removed hand from walker and shakes fist*

[hmm]

WTF is wrong with the early bird?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I think I shot an early bird once with my BB gun when I was a kid.

The early bird sometimes gets the BB to the cranium, and the second bird gets the worm that the early bird was going for.

[hmm]

Get a higher capacity BB gun and get both birds, and the use the worm to go fishing while you eat a bird sandwich and have a beer.

[Tim]

Is that what happened to "12AM" Suki?

[Jonas]

This font scheme sucks. I thought I had lost my marbles or something.

[Attorney]

Crypto-conservatives!

[Old]

Bigger fonts are hurting my eyes.

[hmm]

The same silent masses that want threading want larger fonts.

I see a "silent masses" conspiracy on the horizon.

[Silent Masses]

more male nudity!

[Almanian]

Thank goodness you got these up - Warty was threatening to move to BALTIMORE!

And them's fightin' words, coming from an Ohiogander...

[Balmer Babe]

Warty, you would be welcomed with open arms, Hon!

[Warty]

Don't worry. I would only go to Baltimore if I obtained a suitcase nuke, or maybe a snuke.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Good - morning links. I've been waiting to post these:

Guy gets arrested for using an "AK-47" (more likely a Norinco) to protect his home from what he apparently reasonably believed to be the MS-13. By arresting him and confiscating his weapon, the police likely just signed his (and possibly his family's) death warrant.

Dem rep won't allow cameras or recordings at a "public" debate.

[John]

Shakes fist in rage!!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Will you people stop shaking me?

It was easier for the police to arrest the homeowner than to go around gathering up gang members. And they did have to arrest someone, you know.

And let's face it, if you televise that debate then all the ticket purchasers are going to feel like real saps.

[John]

If people would just buy a few tickets and make the debate a sellout, it wouldn't be blacked out.

[sage]

More likely a Norinco

It's the same thing. Every part on those weapons are interchangeable with the exception of the receiver.

When I first got mine I was disappointed to read that it's basically dead last on the blue book value of AK variants. But I've fired thousands of rounds through it with never a jam or misfire. Very reliable gun.

[Abdul]

Has it solved your MS-13 infestation?

[sage]

Are you kidding? I'm going to their crib and wreaking havoc.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Isn't a true AK-47 select fire, with full auto, though? I.e., it's highly unlikely the guy had a true "AK-47", as the new media always breathlessly report. He had the civilian version - a semi-auto AK clone.

Just like they always incorrectly report that a shooter had a "high powered", "military-style" M-16, when in reality he had an AR-15, which is not really what I would consider to be all that "high power." Plus there's that little difference between a three-round burst and a single round per trigger pull.

[sage]

Hmm, AFAIK you can get a Soviet AK-47 from a gun dealer; it will have the select fire capability disabled. Most of what you find tends to be clones from Romania, China, etc.

I've heard that I can easily convert my MAK-90 to full auto. I really don't have the desire to piss that kind of money away. Plus there's that whole "federal offense" thingy...

I'm sure you're right and the reporter in question is clueless about firearms. Typical.

[db]

You can't legally convert that gun to full auto. Also, since 1989, no importation of most semi-auto "assault rifles" has been prohibited, thanks to GHW Bush. I doubt you will ever find a semi-auto Soviet AK47 for sale in the U.S. There are registered transferable Soviet AK47s that were brought back from Vietnam that you might be able to lay your hands on if you can find one, but that's going to be upwards of $20,000 for a real one.

[db]

IF you became a licensed manufacturer of machineguns you could convert it but there's no lawful way without that license to convert. There are plenty of registered transferable AK47s out there with a happy switch, but they're not cheap. As I mentioned above, a real Soviet one is going to run $20k plus. Chinese or other makes are in the mid teens for cost.

[db]

IF you became a licensed manufacturer of machineguns you could convert it but there's no lawful way without that license to convert. There are plenty of registered transferable AK47s out there with a happy switch, but they're not cheap. As I mentioned above, a real Soviet one is going to run $20k plus. Chinese or other makes are in the mid teens for cost.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez]

If you have a Norinco, they are definitely not last in blue book. Matter of fact, Norincos (especially "pre-ban" with the eeeeeevil threaded muzzle, pistol grip and bayo lug, etc) fetch a premium because Clinton banned further importation via EO. Now you want bottom of the heap price-wise, its Romanian.

[hmm]

It's my understanding that officers aren't trained in dealing with armed civilians trying not to kill people, but instead scare them off and stop them from hurting their family. It's the public's fault that they don't fund the police department better to allow the officers better training in dealing with common fucking sense issues.(the same goes for prosecutors, you know the guys who graduated with a strong C from law school)

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Seems to me if the guy was trying to scare off MS-13 members, his aim was about three-four feet too low. He fired into the dirt.

[John]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/20.....ith-ak-47/

New York still sucks.

[Fist of Etiquette]

U.S. hopes to increase tourism . . . by taxing tourists.

Tourist Tax? It should be called the Potential Terrorist Threat and/or Undocumented Worker Tax.

[John]

If the constant harassment at the border doesn't make them feel welcome, the taxes will.

[Brett L]

I'm sure Disney already has their exemption written in.

[Mr. FIFY]

Must be part of Obama's recovery plan...

[Fluffy]

The new font scheme sucks. News flash, guys, at smaller sizes [like in the ads in the left hand column] the vertical lines of this font essentially disappear. And no I won't change my screen resolution.

So when will Reason be announcing whether or not they will participate in Burn A Koran Day?

[dbcooper]

Ctrl++

[Mr Whipple]

Great, now how do I get it back to where it was?

[dbcooper]

Here you go, old person: Ctrl+0

[Graham Wellington]

What's this here 'Ctrl?'
Is it like 'command?'

[John]

Burn a Koran and a bible both. It is a book not a magic talisman. If it is true, you could burn them all and the message in it would live on.

[Timon19]

More fire = good. A John idea I agree with!

[?]

As Reason supported the "Draw Mohammed Day" in support of free speech, they should support "Burn A Koran Day" as well. No? Discuss.

[grrizzly]

There's a difference. Drawing portraits is natural in the Western civilization. That's why the Muslim ban on drawing Muhammad is so annoying when it's imposed on the West. Burning books, on the other hand, has only negative connotations.

[Timon19]

The thing that's really fucked up is that Shi'ite Islam of the olden days is replete with pictures of Mo. It's a really deep and rich history, in fact. I wouldn't be surprised if it were more common in the eastern Islamic realm, too.

I wouldn't be shocked to see that Sunni art had some depictions of Mo in it, too, sometime long ago in its history.

[Larry and Curly]

How come Moe gets all the pictures?

[Moe]

Have you knuckleheads check a mirror recently?

[?]

"Draw Mohammed Day" was little more than a frat prank designed to piss off Muslims. And Muslims are powerless to "impose" their portrait ban on the West. The Western media that choose not to display Mohammed cartoons censor themselves. So now we have a previously obscure nut case with a following of maybe 50 other bigoted nut cases who is staging a stunt in order to piss off Muslims. Why is one stunt good and the other one bad? Because one involves book-burning?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Partly, yes, because it involves book burning. And this time it's not just a stupid frat prank. It's a self-proclaimed "Christian," who apparently does not understand what that word actually means, and who supposedly is a religious leader, unilaterally declaring an entire religion and its version the Majickal Book of the Universe "evil".

I.e., he's doing exactly what he accuses them of doing, and declaring them evil for doing the exact same thing.

Basically, the guy is a collossal hypocrite.

Seems to me the answer is to take the high road and set a positive example, rather than stooping to their primitive, supersitious and childish level.

I know, I can't quantify it, but this incident seems qualitatively different than the "Draw Mohammed Day". That was just a silly goof; this guy is serious.

[Upgrayyed]

This ain't Afghanistan- we still have some rights- including the right to offend people. Instead of burning them, I think Stagliano should film 'Mohhmed on Mary - Squirtin and Lactatin on the Koran 7' inside the preachers church.

[Azathoth]

All the monotheisms think all the other monotheisms are wrong--its a feature, not a bug.

Try this-- he's giving them a taste of their own medicine. THEY burn bibles, flags, non-muslims, etc. all the time--and they get pissy if we take offense to it.

So this guy, and his minions, went out and bought a bucnh of qurans and now they're gonna show them what it feels like, only....

Only some of them are threatening violence if this guy burns some books that he bought. And we know that they have this tendency to actually get violent when they say they're gonna.

So usually, we cave--or scream at other people to cave so that the nice, peaceful muslims who wouldn't ever think of harming anyone 'cos they're not ALL terrorists--you racist bigot-- won't start killing people or blowing shit up.

Nobody was really paying much attention to this until Gen Petraeus said that, if Terry Jones burns qurans, muslims might retaliate on people who didn't burn qurans simply because they share the nationality or religion of the person who did.

Hey, tell me again how they're not all terrorists, how we shouldn't take one to task for the actions of another, how we'll look bad to the same fucking people who will gladly blame every American or Christian for the actions of one.

[?]

Nobody was really paying much attention to this until Gen Petraeus [made a statement]

He should have kept his mouth shut. Huge mistake getting involved in domestic issues and elevating them to international news stories. The man should have known better.

[Tonio]

It's a self-proclaimed "Christian," who apparently does not understand what that word actually means, and who supposedly is a religious leader...

Uh, I wasn't aware that Christianity(tm) had a single, central authority who validated membership and use of the Christian(tm) trademark. I know there's this guy in Rome whose predecessors used to do that, but IIRC they lost exclusivity and had to open the franchise up to others several hundred years ago. Same deal with "religious leader" - he's got followers, he's religious, so QED he's a religious leader.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I thought a central tenant of Christians was to be, well, Christ-like. I.e., "turn the other cheek;" "let he who is without sin cast the first stone;" etc. I.e. forgiving and non-judgmental.

Being judgmental and calling an entire breed of competing religion "evil", painting every practitioner of that religion a terrorist, and then - for no reason other than just to show how superior your particular breed of invisible deity worship is - staging a mass burning of their majickal book - doesn't seem very "Christian" to me, as least as I've always heard that religion sold.

I don't give a shit if people call themselves Christian, steel belted or magnetic. They can delude themselves and dance around their fires with bodies painted while shaking rat skulls filled with dried fava beans all they want. It's been my experience, however, that those who most loudly and proudly proclaim to be "Christian" sometimes tend also to be those who look the longest and farthest down their noses at anyone who [GASP] is NOT, and also often small-minded and intolerant.

[Rich]

Why is one stunt good and the other one bad? Because one involves book-burning?

Better just microwave 'em.

[Mohammed]

Get off my porch ya punks! (Shakes Norinco AK-47 in rage)

[robc]

Its not the size that sucks so much as the font itself.

[?]

You may not know it, but your browser has magical controls that can change this offensive typography. I use Verdana 14. Looks great. Less filling.

[robc]

I know it, but that requies like 3 clicks, and sometimes you want to allow pages to choose their own font.

[MNG]

I tell you what, I'm actually glad I live in a nation where people can burn Korans and not a nation like many European nations where people would be in immediate mortal danger for doing so.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

This guy and his followers might well find themselves in mortal danger for doing so, albeit not "immediate". Wait a while. We might be hearing more about this.

[?]

He should have been ignored, but it's too late. National media, always on the lookout for incendiary news stories, picked this up and are milking it for all it's worth. Democrat propagandist Keith Olbermann, proving that there is no depravity to low for his show, is making political hay of this story by demanding (yes, demanding) that every Republican publicly repudiate the nut-job preacher. Their silence, he declares, proves that all Republicans are racists. Oddly, I haven't heard a single Democrat repudiate Olbermann.

[Brett L]

I just wish the guy didn't look like the Prophet of OC Choppers. This is why I refuse to acknowledge that Gainesville and I occupy the same state.

[hmm]

Will it blend. The religion edition.

[dave c]

Fonts don't look to bad on an iMac. They really look bad on a PC.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Iran suspends sentence of woman condemned to death by stoning for alleged adultery.

I always said Iran was soft on crime.

[BG]

The article didn't say that the stoning sentence (or some other form of death sentence) would not be carried out.

It said that Iranian authorities were "reviewing" the sentence (which I think was kind of already happening due to international condemnation).

[Johnny Longtorso]

Domestic Violence Fairytales Threaten Constitutional Protections

Judge in Virginia Global Warming Investigation Blocks Inquiry Into ... His Wife's Former Employer

[libertymike]

In your first link, one can read yet another example of how domestic violence is one gigantic fraud. A libertarian, one who is presumed to be aware of life's realities, should conclusively presume that an allegation of domestic violence is false; furthermore, reliance upon any of the state's data, including the CDC, regarding the incidence and frequency of domestic violence is absurd.

The CDC's Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements declares that violence includes "getting annoyed if the victim disagrees" and "withholding information from the victim" as well as "disreagrding what the victim wants".

Again, a rational libertarian just does not credit as fact data produced or released by the state. Only a moron would rely upon the CDC as a source of credible information.

[BG]

In your first link, one can read yet another example of how domestic violence is one gigantic fraud.

Bullshit. Just because there have been some false accusations and overzealous prosecutors, that does not mean that real domestic violence doesn't occur.

[libertymike]

Bullshit yourself. Perhaps you should stop soaking up the state's propaganda and get educated.

[BG]

So are you making the implausible claim that domestic violence never happens?

If not, I don't see what other claim you could be making to call my statement "bullshit".

And what source do you recommend I consult to "get educated" on the subject of domestic violence?

[hmm]

And so I fired four warning shots into the grass," Grier said.

Fear for your life, fuck the grass aim for the mass!

Grier said he knew Nassau County Police employ the hi-tech "ShotSpotter" technology in his area and that the shooting would bring police in minutes.

Sounds like a good reason to own a suppressor or two.

[Brett L]

I bet they use that ShotSpotter in all the low crime neighborhoods.

[Pro Libertate]

All Mayor Richie said was that he wasn't seeking re-election. That's because declaring himself the perpetual ruler of Chicago doesn't require elections.

[Colin]

If that Iranian woman is smart, though, she'll be careful not to say, "Jehovah."

Oh-uh.

[Pro Libertate]

[Throws stone at Colin.]

[SugarFree]

Single-Malt Whiskey Made From Diabetics' Urine

Drink up, bitches.

[Pro Libertate]

Does that pay well, SugarFree?

[SugarFree]

Not at first.

[Pro Libertate]

Do they age it, or is it immediately market-ready?

[SugarFree]

They make urine vodka and then blend it with whiskeys to make the final product.

[sage]

Epi likes to drink it right from the "tap".

[Abdul]

STEVE SMITH MAKE MICROBREW LAGER FROM OWN SEMEN! SEMEN BEER NOT SOLD IN STORES! INSTEAD, STEVE SMITH DISPENSE IN RAPE-SIZED PACKAGE AGAINST YOUR WILL!

BTW, THIS PERFECT CHASER FOR WHIZZKEY!

[gaijin]

Where else would you get an 89-year old whiskey than from an 89-year old diabetic?

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

I won't even go into the implications of "cask strength"...

[Rich]

What's it called?

I suggest Glenpissie.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

Ketone Lite?

[SugarFree]

There's the rub. Uncontrolled diabetics would have urine full of ketones. And the "run-offs" from medications.

Although I could probably market a line of sweet pearl jam.

[gaijin]

so maybe you could actually get your blood pressure and ED medicine in an, um, indirect way while drinking?

Select Blend...

[SugarFree]

I like to think of it as "recycling to reduce health care costs."

[Charlotte Sometimes]

I defer to the expert. . . but Ketone Load or Sweet Ketones! just doesn't sound the same.

[Iranian authorities]

Iranian authorities have suspended the sentence of death by stoning for a woman convicted of adultery

'Cause it's more fun to hit a suspended target than a buried target.

[MNG]

I thought Obama said he would extend the tax cuts but not to the wealthy?

[Gay Communist Gun Club]

Oh, those are mere "facts," which I will dutifully ignore when they contradict my ideology.

Obama will extend tax cuts for couples making less than 250,000 a year and 200,000 for individuals. However, it will be said that "the American people," i.e. the remain tax brackets which comprise 2 percent of the population, and whom are likely to either horde the additional cash or invest it abroad, will not stand for it! Especially after we obfuscate the issue by generically refering to those 2 percent as "the American people" or "small businesses."

Meanwhile, some of those in the other 98 percent will watch Fox News will learn that Obama refuses to extend "Bush tax cuts" (only for those making more than $250,000; however, that 'fact' will not be mentioned; nor will the fact that Obama is also proposing extending $180 billion in tax breaks to businesses),and after hearing this a man or women making, say $80,000 a year will declare, "WTF! Obama is going to raise my taxes! This is an outrage!" Nevermind that he or she supports trillion dollar wars that he or she doesn't want to pay for, not to mention any social services that he or she might receive and not want to pay for.

My ideology says that taxes=bad.

Wasn't that what the Boston Tea Party was all about?

Well, not really. The Boston Tea Party was about the British dumping tons of cheap tea on the American market. Rather than being made more expensive via taxes, tea was actually cheaper in America than in Britian. Not to mention that the assailants weren't wearing the traditional colonial garb that you often see at Tea Party rallies, but dressed as Mohawk indians. Not to mention that the Boston Tea Party was decried by many as a senseless waste of Tea.

Those are all mere "facts."

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

The Boston Tea Party was about the British dumping tons of cheap tea on the American market.

Um. No. Not really. They chose that particular issue to show their displeasure with the way the colonies were being treated by Parliament and the king, but it was not just an isolated act, based solely on the price of the tea itself. The price of tea alone would have been unlikely to be outrageous enough to cause the original tea partiers to do what they did.

No, it was the series of acts that Parliament had passed, which the colonists viewed as denying them their constitutional rights as Englishmen to representation in the legislature. The Stamp Acts, the tea tax, the appointed governors who were in the king's back pocket, the restrictions on what the colonies were allowed to manufacture versus what they were required by law to buy only from England, etc., were what got them outraged enough to finally show their displeasure in that manner.

[Fact Check]

You can argue that what motivated the original tea partiers was not simply the dumping of tea on the American markets. But the original tea party was not motivated simply by the principle of "self-rule" but many of the merchants that participated were motivated by economic interests that were severally harmed by the tea act. So its symbolism was different for the various participants. But, still, some colonialists did see it as a destruction of perfectly good tea. This aspect is hardly ever mentioned because it doesn't fit the narrative.

[Corduroy]

I got one for ya'

NC Sheriff want access to prescription drugs database

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/0.....e?cid=ltst

[Rich]

"We can better go after those who are abusing the system," said Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter. More people in their counties die of accidental overdoses than from homicides, the sheriffs said.

Sounds like the "problem" sorta takes care of itself.

[MNG]

Studies find benefits of Malpractice "Reform" may be overstated

http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt.....-after-all

[sage]

Instead of capping punitive damages (didn't work too well for the oil industry) why not just institute "loser pays" so someone does not go broke defending a frivilous lawsuit...

[MNG]

+1

Capping punitive damages undercuts personal responsibility, loser pays bolsters it. However, I'd also like to see our system include attorney fees as a damage like the British system.

[sage]

I could swear I've seen cases here where attorney's fees were awarded as part of the settlement...

[Fluffy]

Punitive damages are inherently unjust.

The province of punishment should solely extend to the criminal law. Period.

[libertymike]

We can't forget the enormous drain of the allopathic jihadis, i.e., licensure, allopathic dominance of state licensing boards, the AMA, the ongoing propaganda war waged by the above along with big pharma for drugs, medication, surgery, hospitalization, vaccination, more visits to the MD and against alternative treatments.

[John]

Loser pays actually would help plaintiffs. Insurance companies routinely slow roll deserving plaintiffs figuring they will get desperate and take less than what they deserve. If the insurance company risked paying the other guy's attorney fees, they would be more likely to settle legitimate cases earlier.

[hmm]

Studies find benefits of Malpractice "Reform" may be overstated and that reform still needs to be done.

There ya go.

[hmm]

The NPR headline is as misleading as the million other headlines dealing with this study and others, and the article isn't much better.

[MNG]

Sure hmmm, we should undercut personal responsibility to lower health care costs in the aggregate a drop in the bucket.

Wait a minute, that's usually my line!

[hmm]

/shrug

I was just pointing out your bias in your post with respect to what the article (and the study, for that matter) stated.

Reading anything else into the statement is probably not prudent.

[MP]

From the article (highlights mine):

In particular, the paper found, capping damages for pain and suffering, which is the top malpractice solution favored by most doctor groups

Doctors favor caps? Who'da thunk it?

As sage mentions above, caps have serious flaws. "Loser pays" is a much better disincentive.

In addition, I think that there's value in having civil medical cases be decided by panels of professionals rather than juries.

More on Administrative Compensation here.

[Rich]

The fee affects air and sea travelers from: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The rationale for these particular countries being ... ? In any event, I'm sure Brunei is in there by mistake.

[Timon19]

Think of the revenue we could get from the Sultan's visits!

[Isaac Bartram]

That looks a lot like the list of countries that are in the Visa-Waiver Program.

It is, in fact the fee is specifically imposed on visitors participating in the program.

So instead of having to pay a Cnote or so to get a visa, those lucky folks are going to be dinged fourteen smackers for their Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which sounds a lot like a visa to me. maybe they can call it Visa lite.

[Isaac Bartram]

When I went to Australia in 1994 they not only charged me for the visa to get in, they charged me a $A20 tax to get out.

[robc]

Bahamas does the same thing.

[robc]

The exact tax, not the visa part. I seriously considered telling them to fuck off, I was just gonna stay.

[robc]

exit, not exact. Ugh.

[P Brooks]

More people in their counties die of accidental overdoses than from homicides, the sheriffs said.

So...

Have a donut.

[Draco]

Martin Feldstein, who was economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan, said all the Bush tax cuts should be extended for two years because even letting those for the wealthy lapse would be "a blow to a very fragile economy."

True. And what's really sad is that no one in power currently, and probably no one who will come to power in November, understands that the only purpose of income tax (or any federal tax) is to control inflation - since the Federal Govt is not revenue constrained for expenditures. And right now, the economy could easily absorb the inflationary effects of allowing the tax cuts for top earners to remain in effect for years to come. That is, there wouldn't in practice be any such effects.

The same, of course, could be said for the payroll tax holiday.

The best way to boost aggregate demand and release the animal spirits of those who want to produce and profit is to reduce taxes and get the government the hell out of the way (reduce regulation).

But when those in power don't understand the way their own damned system works (the Fed, fiat currency, flexible exchange rates), those of us who do can only sink deeper into depression as they make mistake after mistake. I think maybe Greenspan was the last person in the government who did understand.

If you want to be one of those who understands, read this for starters.

Of course, even if he did understand, there'd be political (class warfare) reasons for Obama to do what he is doing, sadly.

[Draco]

I should have said "the only legitimate purpose for the income tax" since, in addition to its legitimate purpose (destroying money the fed govt creates), it is used to redistribute income and to instigate class warfare.

[Warty]

These dudes would have no problem with burning Korans. I just wish I could find more anti-Islamic metal bands, so I wouldn't have to keep repeating this one.

Well, I mean, there's plenty of shit like this, but it kind of sucks. And besides, a bunch of cracker-ass Swedes saying Islam sucks is not nearly as cool as some dudes from Beirut doing it.

[Warty]

Although this is sort of catchy. ??Blaspheme Mohammed's name ??...

[Draco]

There are purported "libertarians" on this blog who only get enthusiastic when a brown person ridicules or attacks an established religion espoused by millions of brown people, but get all bent out of shape when a white person does it, because they hate "the ruling classes" of America more than they hate those who destroy liberty, or who impose tyranny on man's mind. I've seen it here week after week. I find it fascinating, and am still trying to figure it out.

[?]

One person likes this.

[J sub D]

Iran tells world: don't make stoning a rights issue

Foreign countries should not interfere in Iran's legal system and stop trying to turn the case of a woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery into a human rights issue, Tehran said on Tuesday.

World tells Iran: pull their heads out of your asses.

[Cyto]

I caught that as well. Translated: "don't go making human rights a human rights issue..." Funny if you don't stop to think about a crowd of people gathered around for the chance to hurl rocks at a defenseless woman until she is literally beaten to death. That part kinda makes it not so funny any more. In fact, it kinda makes you believe that people are just inherently evil. I used to think that bloodlust of this kind only existed in ancient times - Roman coliseums and all that. Then I see things like that mutilated girl on the cover of National Geographic. Sometimes being young and naive is nice.

[?????]

thanks