Posts by NewSense

3

Could social shame bring about the change the War on Terror can't?

by Country Girl in

editorial muslim media's criticism of terrorism gives us hope

editorial board

NewSense

It's all well and good that moderate, mainstream Muslims condemn the atrocities carried out by those professing to follow Islam but who, in reality, are effectuating a travesty of its teachings. But while true Moslems are condemning such horrific conduct, it behooves true Americans to equally condemn the atrocities being carried out by their own government. It's sickeningly ironic that the American government speaks constantly of the "War on Terror," all the while being guilty of committing state-sponsored terrorism of its own. The invasion of Iraq is nothing other than state-sponsored terrorism. Just as Hitler did, Bush fabricated a chimerical excuse - that of eliminating the non-existant "weapons of mass destruction" - in order to illegally invade a sovereign nation.

The Nazis frankly confessed that they had no desire to tell the German populace any small lie; no, they spoke only of the Big Lie. They intuitively knew that the German people would believe a big lie more than a series of small lies. Likewise, too many Americans remain silent in face of the big lie told by their own government. The heinous conduct of the American government makes the conduct of such "rogue" states as North Korea seem like school-boy pranks. And, to speak of *South* Korea for a moment, I wonder what the U.S. plans to do now that South Korea has admitted that it has attained nuclear weapons capability. In my opinion, South Korea has most definitely in its possession a weapon of mass destruction. Using the "logic" that Bush stated, ought the U.S. now invade South Korea - or at least get rid of its naughty leaders who, by the way, give no more of a godamn about democracy than Saddam ever did? Just think, now the U.S. has an excuse to invade BOTH North and South Korea. To bring a lovely phrase from the Vietnam war era, the U.S. can now "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out." Fuck, while the U.S. is at it, it can also "bomb China back to the stone age." The Tibetans, Mongolians and Taiwanese would all love to see that!!! There would be parades with dragon dances everywhere!!!

But seriously, it's time that Americans took back their country. If they don't, it may well soon be too late. The barbarians are at the gate. It's indeed high time shame brought about social change for the better - in America. It's ironic that Americans speak of introducing democracy and social freedoms to Iraq, while the so-called "Patriot Act" does nothing other than deprive Americans of their owm constitutional rights. Slowly but surely, the American people is being stripped of rights that it has always taken for granted. History - from the time of ancient Rome to our contemporary era - offers many examples of the utter destruction and ruin wrought by demagogues and tyrants like Bush. And as Santayana said: Those who do not heed the warnings of history are doomed to repeat it.

14

Words we have lost over the centuries.

by Xandria in

jw
friends

for those who are a stickler on language and grammar....

the english language, like any other living thing, is continually in a state of change.

just as cells in our bodies die each day and are replaced with new ones, an almost imperceptible attrition in vocabulary regularly takes place, balancing the hundreds of fledgling terms that make their way into our conversations and dictionaries each year.

NewSense

In my previous post, it should read "travelling around the world." Sorry.

14

Words we have lost over the centuries.

by Xandria in

jw
friends

for those who are a stickler on language and grammar....

the english language, like any other living thing, is continually in a state of change.

just as cells in our bodies die each day and are replaced with new ones, an almost imperceptible attrition in vocabulary regularly takes place, balancing the hundreds of fledgling terms that make their way into our conversations and dictionaries each year.

NewSense

Another thing that I find interesting is how the meaning of a word can change. For example, the word "aweful" used to mean "full of awe." The word "girl" used to mean a youth - a young person of either gender, not only female. And the word "spinster," a derogatory term now used for an unmarried woman who is past the age of marriage, used to deignate something far different. The word "spinster" used to mean a prostitute. Actually, the original meaning of "spinster" was simply that of a seamstress, or a woman who used a spinning wheel to make clothes. It seems that the men of the higher social classes who employed these women would often take them as mistresses or lovers.

Words have traditionally reflected the values of the ruling class. For example, the word "heathen" originally meant someone who lived in the heath lands, the countryside far removed from the city. Likewise a "villain" used to mean someone who lived in a "ville" a small town far removed from the urban center. It seems that city people have always entertained the idea of country people as "hillbillies " or "shitkickers." Just consider how the word "urbane" (with an extra "e") means someone who is sophisticated and cultured. It is obviously closely related to "urban."

Language also reflects he sexist nature of society. Just consider the words "bachelor" and "spinster." Their *denotations* are the same, and there is a correlation between their denotations. That is to say that they both denote unmarried people who have passed the age when they "should" have married. But their *connotations" are different. When you think of the word "bachelor" what ideas come to mind? If you're like most people, you will imagine a handsome, even dashing, debonair man driving an expensive car and travellinga round the word. He's too smart to let himself get "trapped" into marriage. He has succesfully resited the wiles of the women who tried to "snare" him. But, when you think of a spinster, you get an entirely different set of notions. Likewise, is there any "feminine" equivalent to terms such as "Don Juan," "Cassanova," or "man about town"? And just think of the words "father" and "mother" used as *verbs.* If I say, "He fathered the boy," it means that he is the biological father of the boy. Only one man can be said to have fathered the boy. But I can say, his sisters and aunts and grandmother all mothered him so much. Many women can mother a child, but only one man can father a child. As Shakespeare said, "Words, words, words." Words are fascinating.

37

its just me ,,,,

by looking-4-the-truth in

how are you ... and hope everyone is good.

anyways, i'm a muslim guy and i live in the states ,,, i do love living in here ,,, and my wife is christain " mormon " ,,,,,,,,,,, .

and i'd love to discuse with one of you about the bible ,,,,,,, .

NewSense

MyAuntFanny: Just go to Google, and type in "female genital mutilation." When the page pops up, the first site that you will see is that of Amnesty International. Go to the end of the article where it talks about F.G.M. and religion. It says: F.G.M predates Islam and is NOT practised by the majority of Muslims." The second site is that of religious tolerance.org. On this webpage, you will read: "F.G.M. originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice." You will also read: "This mutilating operation is often assocaited with Islam. This is incorrect. F.G.M. is primarily a social practice, not a religious one." Notice that in the Amnesty International webpage it says that F.G.M. predates Islam, just as I said. Both sites agree that this is a cultural issue, and not specifically a religious issue. Sadly, this heinous practice is performed in many parts of the world by people of different religions. If you read these two articles carefully, you will see that certain Christian, Moslem and Jewish people all subject their female children to this atrocious practice. By the way, I have just given you the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" as far as information on this practice is concerned. If you are interested, just go to Google and type in "female genital mutilation." You will get many, many hits.

P.S. I wish to make one correction to my earlier posting. The word "circumcision" has three c's, not two. Sorry, my bad. Of course, when I said two c's, I was talking about the middle "c" and last "c" only! Ha! Ha!

37

its just me ,,,,

by looking-4-the-truth in

how are you ... and hope everyone is good.

anyways, i'm a muslim guy and i live in the states ,,, i do love living in here ,,, and my wife is christain " mormon " ,,,,,,,,,,, .

and i'd love to discuse with one of you about the bible ,,,,,,, .

NewSense

Devil's Advocate: You state that, by "running to Allah," women would be subject to female "circumsision" (by the way, the word is spelled "circumcision" with two c's, not two s's). By this, I assume you mean genital mutilation. Before you say something as stupidly inaccurate as this, you really should check your facts. As a matter of fact, Islam expressly forbids such a practice. In point of fact, female genital mutilation antedates Islam by thousands of years. Female genital mutilation goes back to the days of Pharaohnic Egypt. Female genital mutilation is basically limited to Africa; it is NOT practiced in the so-called Middle East. It is unknown in places such as Iraq, Iran and Turkey. It has absolutely no connection with Islam; as I said, it is forbidden by Islam. So, if people do indeed carry out this horrendous custom, they do so IN SPITE of Islam, and not because of Islam. Can I make it any clearer than that? People were performing female genital mutilation thousands of years before Islam came on the scene. It has nothing to do with Islam at all.

6

Quote from The Koran

by chappy in

the following is an interesting quote from the koran.

remember the symble for america.

note the chapter-verse.. koran (9:11) - for it is written that a son of arabia would awaken a.

NewSense

It's me again!! The s.o.b. that everyone loves to hate! But, seriously folks, before I get off my soapbox for the evening, I just want to point out just how dangerous this hated-based kind of hoax is. Not that many years ago, there was another evil hoax that sought to slur Jews and accuse them of plotting to overthrow all governments so that they could rule the world. The hoax that I'm talking about is a filthy lie called "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." It was originally written in Czarist Russia and soon translated into French. And of course the Nazis translated it into German. This book contributed to what would come later - the Holocaust. My point is that such words can have incredibly horrible and evil consequences. The Holocaust did not begin with Auschwitz and the crematoria; that was the endpoint. The Holocaust began with words - words scrawled in the night by cowards on the walls of synagogues. But why am I writing this? How to fight against such things? Like Nietzsche said, we have inherited both the wisdom and the madness of a thousand generations.

6

Quote from The Koran

by chappy in

the following is an interesting quote from the koran.

remember the symble for america.

note the chapter-verse.. koran (9:11) - for it is written that a son of arabia would awaken a.

NewSense

Narkissos, I see that at least you have a bit of common sense and the ability to reason. Anybody possessing either of the two would be capable of spotting such malicious tripe for what it is. Again, I give Chappy the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is merely an innocent dupe in this matter. But I wonder why it is that Americans are all too willing to believe any bullshit they are told as long as said bullshit condemns Moslems or Islam. The American death toll in Iraq is now at one thousand. When will this insanity end? When will people see through the lies? How many more will have to die?

6

Quote from The Koran

by chappy in

the following is an interesting quote from the koran.

remember the symble for america.

note the chapter-verse.. koran (9:11) - for it is written that a son of arabia would awaken a.

NewSense

Chappy, I hate to rain on your parade, but the supposed "quote" that you offer is neither ironic nor what; it's bullshit. There's no such quote in the Koran. The eleventh verse of the nineth sutra reads, and I quote: "But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they brethren in religion. We detail Our revelations for a people who have knowledge." This verse talks how it is the duty of Moslems to give alms to the poor.

You'll notice that no mention is made of eagles or Arabia. You know, I knew that your quote was bogus as soon as I read it. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that your merely passing along something that you read. But take my advice, always check your source before you pass on stuff like this. This quote was obviously concocted to stir up hatred. You really should have checked a English language version of the Koran before posting this.

58

LET US TRY AN EXQUISITE CORPSE

by Terry in

jw
friends

among surrealist techniques exploiting the mystique of accident was a kind of collective collage of words or images called the cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse).

based on an old parlor game, it was played by several people, each of whom would write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold the paper to conceal part of it, and pass it on to the next player for his contribution.

i will begin the story.

NewSense

that weird comic strip filled with illogical non-sequitors, "Zippy." You know, that pin-head that dresses in a mu-mu that looks like a clown suit. Anyway, Mookie gets to thinking. Maybe he and Cookie could dress up like Zippy and his lady, Zebrina.

24

letter from mom/letter to mom

by MerryMagdalene in

if anybody feels up to wading through what follows and giving me any feedback on it, i would really appreciate it, but, if not, that's cool too.... letter from mom (9/29/04):.

my dear one,.

i guess you know no one on earth is as dear to me as you.

NewSense

Dear Merry:

You may want to include how the "Society" changed the meaning of the term "generation" so as to nullify, for all intents and purposes, the 1914 doctrine. In regard to the neutrality issue, it might be a good idea to mention the U.N scandal - how the Society registered itslef as a N.G.O., all supposedly for access to library priviliges. And to underscore the issue of flip-flopping on docvtrinal issue, you can use the Society's own publications against it in regard to whether the populations of Sodom and Gommorah will be resurrected. If you go back through the years, you will see that they have gone back and forth between "yes" and "no" about ten times or so. I saw this on some website, but I cannot remember which one. In any case, it really makes the Society look ridiculous. The joke is that there is no new light on this question, only a blinking light!!!!