The unimportant news thread

[greg]

One quickly googled definition of "racism":

"the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races."

If the March Against Sharia is implying that Muslim immigrants in America have the same mindset and inclinations as the Taliban then that's racism by any standard definition.


Perhaps you should tell us how you define it.

You literally explained the problem better than I could. Both of you are incorrectly equating race to culture/religion.

Muslim is not a race.

[SimonNZ]

That's what I thought you were going to say.

It's racist because the protesters are equating Taliban tendencies to people with a specific look.

It's not about religion because that's not how the immigrants are practicing their religion, any more than Christian or Jewish Americans are practicing the stoning laws from the Old Testament - any more than they need to be protested. So what then are they protesting? The look of difference - their fear of the other. They're protesting the race. They're creating division and outrage in the uninformed where none should exist.


It might also be noted that western culture has some equally or more barbaric ways of delivering capital punishment. A stoning, not that I condone it and certainly not for mere adultery, may be a swifter and less painful death than the electric chair, for example. You may also want to factor in how less common it is than you might think, even in countries where it is ostensibly legal:

http://news.trust.org//item/20130927165059-w9g0i

[greg]

Obviously you know more about that protest than I do since I never heard of it.

Are they really also protesting "people with a certain look?" Or just the usage of Sharia law in the US? Because I only caught the latter in your description.

[Ratliff]

You literally explained the problem better than I could. Both of you are incorrectly equating race to culture/religion.

Muslim is not a race.

You're going to rely on that technicality?

As mentioned above, racism is attributing negative characteristics of a few members, real or imagined, to all members of a race. You do the same for Muslims. The defense that "Muslim" is not a race is pretty weak, since "race" has no clear scientific basis and is mostly a social construct; you are treating "Muslim" as a race.

It is not an abstraction for me, none of the Muslim students, colleagues, friends I have and have had match your "taliban" caricature, and they have to confront it every day of their lives, because of people like you.

[JBS]

It's xenophobia and bigotry,  and one doesn't need any other terminology to understand it's wrong.   

In this particular case, they believe all Muslims are committed to imposing "Sharia law" on everyone else, so protesting "Sharia law" is just another way of protesting Muslim presence in the US simply because Muslims are different from them.

[greg]

You're going to rely on that technicality?

As mentioned above, racism is attributing negative characteristics of a few members, real or imagined, to all members of a race. You do the same for Muslims. The defense that "Muslim" is not a race is pretty weak, since "race" has no clear scientific basis and is mostly a social construct; you are treating "Muslim" as a race.

It is not an abstraction for me, none of the Muslim students, colleagues, friends I have and have had match your "taliban" caricature, and they have to confront it every day of their lives, because of people like you.

Okay now you are just going off the rails because you lost an argument and look bad. You obviously have zero reading comprehension and don't know the first thing about me.

Muslim is not a race. That's absolutely retarded to think so. Any of us could become Muslim. Arab could be considered a race.

Seriously grow up. If you can't handle adult conversations without lashing out then don't participate.

[Ratliff]

It's xenophobia and bigotry,  and one doesn't need any other terminology to understand it's wrong.   

+1

[greg]

+1

You are putting me in the ridiculous position of defending myself. Were your next door neighbors, for years, Muslims, all the while not even thinking much about it? But apparently I strike fear into them. Maybe ask them how scary I was.

If it was just xenophobia I would have agreed. But the term racist is used and you agreed with it.

So yeah let this be a moment where you look into the mirror and learn how toxic you and people with the same beliefs can be. I literally just posted about false accusations of rape in this thread and the discussion turns into me being falsely accused of racism.

Stop trying to force the moral high ground because you can't take the logical, truthful high ground. If you need an enemy, pick someone who is actually bad instead of trying to create ones.

[drogulus]

     Today I Learned That Not Everyone Has An Internal Monologue And It Has Ruined My Day

I posted a poll on instagram to get a more accurate assessment of the situation. Currently 91 people have responded that they have an internal monologue and 18 people reported that they do not have this. I began asking those people questions about the things that they experience and it is quite different from the majority.

I would tell them that I could look at myself in the mirror and have a full blown telepathic conversation with myself without opening my mouth and they responded as if I had schizophrenia. One person even mentioned that when they do voice overs in movies of people's thoughts, they "wished that it was real."

     I wish the author had asked more questions of the people who don't hear their own voice. Are they incapable of hearing any voices? Do they see words when they think? How does consciousness manifest itself?

     

[greg]

     Today I Learned That Not Everyone Has An Internal Monologue And It Has Ruined My Day

I posted a poll on instagram to get a more accurate assessment of the situation. Currently 91 people have responded that they have an internal monologue and 18 people reported that they do not have this. I began asking those people questions about the things that they experience and it is quite different from the majority.

I would tell them that I could look at myself in the mirror and have a full blown telepathic conversation with myself without opening my mouth and they responded as if I had schizophrenia. One person even mentioned that when they do voice overs in movies of people's thoughts, they "wished that it was real."

     I wish the author had asked more questions of the people who don't hear their own voice. Are they incapable of hearing any voices? Do they see words when they think? How does consciousness manifest itself?

   

This was from earlier last year. It's literally the piece of news that first inspired the NPC meme.

[greg]

Here ya go:

Q&A with a person who does not have an internal monologue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u69YSh-cFXY

[SimonNZ]

Human composting could be the future of deathcare
Washington becomes first US state to legalise practice as interest in green burials surges in UK

[SimonNZ]

KFC and Crocs created a clog that's covered in fried chicken

[Ratliff]

Human composting could be the future of deathcare
Washington becomes first US state to legalise practice as interest in green burials surges in UK

Can Soylent Green be far off?

[greg]

Flat earther dies from homemade rocket

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/02/23/mad-mike-hughes-dead/%3foutputType=amp


Is it wrong to laugh at someone else's death? 

[drogulus]

     Radical hydrogen-boron reactor leapfrogs current nuclear fusion tech

The lasers themselves rely upon cutting-edge "Chirped Pulse Amplification" technology, the development of which won its inventors the 2018 Nobel prize in Physics. Much smaller and simpler than any of the high-temperature fusion generators, HB11 says its generators would be compact, clean and safe enough to build in urban environments. There's no nuclear waste involved, no superheated steam, and no chance of a meltdown.

     Fusion energy that doesn't use radioactive elements and produces no radioactive waste seems like a good fit for my back yard.

     

[steve ridgway]

     Radical hydrogen-boron reactor leapfrogs current nuclear fusion tech

The lasers themselves rely upon cutting-edge "Chirped Pulse Amplification" technology, the development of which won its inventors the 2018 Nobel prize in Physics. Much smaller and simpler than any of the high-temperature fusion generators, HB11 says its generators would be compact, clean and safe enough to build in urban environments. There's no nuclear waste involved, no superheated steam, and no chance of a meltdown.

     Fusion energy that doesn't use radioactive elements and produces no radioactive waste seems like a good fit for my back yard.

   

That would be fantastic news if it proved to be viable .

[SimonNZ]

'To hell and back': my three weeks suffering from coronavirus
Tiger Ye, 21, lives in Wuhan and started showing symptoms in mid-January. Here he tells the story of his illness and recovery

[drogulus]

     

     For those of you who are thinking of of selling your nest egg before it goes to zero, this:

     

     

     

     

     

[JBS]

A ProPublica reporter on the Coronavirus

https://www.propublica.org/article/i-lived-through-sars-and-reported-on-ebola-these-are-the-questions-we-should-be-asking-about-coronavirus