Letters to the Editor
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Tracy
I don't your accuracy in posting this this (I presume) translated quote ... but I recall a huge brew-ha-ha around Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying he wanted "Isreal wiped off the map." Or ... so most thought ... and so he was widely quoted.
Salon contributor Juan Cole wrote of this:
But the actual quote, which comes from an old speech of Khomeini, does not imply military action, or killing anyone at all. The second reason is that it is just an inexact translation. The phrase is almost metaphysical. He quoted Khomeini that "the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time." It is in fact probably a reference to some phrase in a medieval Persian poem. It is not about tanks.
Is it possible this is happening here? Inflamatory language from Iran fans the neocon fires.
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Totoro
I rather doubt it. Just because something aligns with the necon's talking points doesn't necessarily mean that it's just a poor translation. As a state, Iran, like most functioning states, seems like a generally rational actor; however, that doesn't exclude their clerics from being fundamentalist nut-jobs.
Mr. Hassani is probably being hyperbolic, but I don't doubt his sincerity. This is, after all, a man who demanded that the judiciary arrest dog owners (dogs being unclean animals in Islam).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2326357.stm
So clearly he's a very dogmatic sort.
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Watch out for what you wish for, dude
Maybe I'm just weird, but I immediately started thinking about the logistics of this one. Imagine if he got his way, that would be a whole hell of a lot of people to bury. Like billions and billions of people.
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Where are the aliens when we need them?
It was in a sci-fi novel, almost wish fulfillment: the aliens come down and suddenly the men who insisted that they could not control their lusts if they saw women unveiled saw only women so hideous that they could not lust. So they tried to beat them instead.
That's the thing. No matter how often a man like this will say that this is to keep men from being tempted by women, the truth is that this is an abusive relationship on a grand scale. "I only hurt you because you make me! If you would just follow my rules, we would be happy!"
If only we could tell the collective women of these countries to DTMFA. Get them all somewhere else and let the men beat on each other if they're so damned angry. You can't reason with an abusive spouse, you can't just talk them out of being that way, and most importantly you can never be good enough for them to stop being abusive. All you can do is leave. Unfortunately, without that happening, it'll probably be many generations before this attitude goes away.
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note to anon...
Yeah, right... the same bum rap was attributed to Hitler. Such an innocent dude, he.
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ThoughtsofSusan, I gotta know
...what sci-fi novel this was.
It's too accurate a skewering of oppressive [Muslim] societies for us not to know. Please share! Thanks.
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With my nieces', cousins', sisters' and (sigh) Mom's proud, barely clad tradition
of towering heels, micro minis, lower than low jeans and nary a top among them that covers a belly button-- I might as well ask now, "Where do you want my head on the block? Here?"
And no, you can't have any cell numbers. Merry Christmas.
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This is why we need alternate energy sources.
The more I read of Islam...and yes, you can say this is not representative of Islam if you wish, but the loudest voices carry the furthest...the more I believe the Earth would be better off without anyone connected with it.
If we can find some kind of energy source for our cars, homes and factories that was completely free of oil, we could wall off the Middle East and let them all kill each other to their heart's content. Which, if we had had any sanity, we would have done to the people I'm descended from, the Irish. Either Northern and Southern Ireland would have been destroyed, or they would have reduced each other's population to the point of extinction. Either way, it would have stopped IRA terrorist bombings in London.
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The Cleric
I wonder if these clerics and religious zealots of any cult, would become happy dudes if only they gulped a quart of prune juice at one sitting............it works for me ;-)
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@ anonymous 8:52
I am assuming you are the anonymous of the "I blame the Jews" endless recitative. I am also assuming you are being ironic. But you aren't funny. There's not enough context for people to "get" your "joke." And, a comedian with only one joke, well, isn't a comedian.
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BLAH BLAH BLAH!
Yes, and you can find our own home grown idiots who say we should nuke them.
Some of them may be running for president.
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@Juliebird
I get the joke. Let me explain. Anonymous really ISN'T an anti-semite.
Eh? Get it now?
Hilarious isn't it?
Anonymous just wants you to think that they are an anti-semite.
That is a million dollar punchline.
Because you don't.
No one else does either.
That is funny.
Everytime anonymous makes another anti-semitic post it just gets even funnier.
Repeat - goto top.
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But
I thought Islam was the religion of peace? So why is this guy advocating killing?!
Could it be that the religion ACTUALLY condones killing of innocents simply for not following the rules? Could it be the "experts" are wrong???
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Is this the thread where
We call baby doll t-shirts the same thing as beheading women?
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oh my God
Oh my God...the loss of humanity..."the humanity...the humanity..."
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As compared to what, precisely?
Slavery - outright legally sanctioned in your face slavery isn't 100% abolished in the Arab/Muslim world yet. So what are you expecting? Two years ago a minor member of the Saudi Royal family, a regional governor, was murdered because he went to a meeting with women present. These are not anomalous pronouncements. This is what these peace loving peaceful people of peace believe and espouse.
In the 20th Century radicals, white shoe communists and other college quad impressionable young fools were constantly beguiled by Stalinists, Maoists, Nazis, African revolutionaries, dictators of all stripes. Not because they were stupid, but because they could not wrap their heads around the thought that vile tyrants really were who they appeared to be. The westerners love to support people they themselves imagine must be as nice and tolerant as they are - after all, we're all evolved, aren't we?
So you continue to be shocked every time some bush league culture with interesting headgear in far away lands commits some atrocity. Yeah you be shocked.