Introduction - The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy - by Daniel Pipes - "Just a few minutes' political chat with a sophisticated Middle Easterner makes it clear how much he interprets great public issues through the prism of conspiracy theories. Whereas Westerners see a Syrian government long in conflict with Israel, he perceives Damascus as having surreptitiously worked hand in glove with the Jewish state since the 1960s. In his view, the Western powers built up Saddam Husayn, connived with him to put on Desert Storm, and provided him with the weapons to stay in power after his defeat. Ruhollah Khomeini may have appeared vitriolically anti-Western, but Middle Eastern interlocutors claim this ayatollah faithfully served his British (or American) masters right up to his death. And so forth.However wrong-headed they may be, these views have great consequence. Indeed, whoever hopes to understand the Middle East must recognize the distorting lens of conspiracy theories, understand them, make allowance for them, and perhaps even plan around them. Conspiracism provides a key to understanding the political culture of the Middle East. It spawns its own discourse, complete in itself and virtually immune to rational argument. It suffuses life, from the most private family conversations to the highest and most public levels of politics. It helps explain much of what would otherwise seem illogical or implausible, including the region's record of political extremism and volatility, its culture of violence, and its poor record of modernization. The conspiratorial mentality also extends beyond the region, skewing both the way outsiders see the Middle East and spurring conspiracism in other parts of the world. In sum, conspiracism constitutes one of the region's most distinctive political features. Ignore this phenomenon, "almost universal in the Middle East," and some of the most important features of the Arab and Iranian bodies politic remain elusive. Analyzing the region without taking the hidden hand into account is comparable to studying the American economy without Wall Street or Soviet politics without Marxism-Leninism... Part IV asks why conspiracy theories have proliferated in the Middle East. Noting the virtual absence of conspiracy theories in the region during premodern times, I conclude that they represent a modern phenomenon and have flourished only in the twentieth century. They spread due to four main causes: the worldly decline of Muslims, the influence of European thought, the plethora of actual conspiracies, and the specific nature of Middle Eastern politics, especially its pan-movements and its autocracy... Oddly, Westerners tend to study their own attitudes toward the Middle East much more than the reverse. Bernard Lewis, the renowned historian, observes that "Far less attention has been given to the origins and development of Middle Eastern attitudes toward the West, though these are of at least equal importance in determining relations between the two. In the absence of the rather Western habits of self-analysis and self-criticism, they may even be of greater importance."... Westerners often dismiss what Arabs and Iranians say and write, implying that they indulge in rhetoric for its own sake. Saddam Husayn's speech on 17 July 1990 threatening force against Kuwait, for example, prompted Don Kerr of the International Institute for Strategic Studies to declare that "Arabic rhetoric always is colorful, so it's natural in the region for people to discount what they are hearing"; just two weeks later, Saddam's forces invaded Kuwait. Dismissing what Middle Easterners say constitutes a shameless caricature, an act suggesting little imagination and much ethnocentrism. Middle Easterners do not just bandy words about; far more often, these bespeak sincere beliefs."
Given that Muslims outside the Middle East love conspiracy theories too...
Titania McGrath on Twitter - "So far today I’ve got a woman fired for claiming that sex is binary, shouted abuse at an old man collecting money for the British Legion, dog-piled people on Twitter for disagreeing with me and burned some books by Dr Seuss. It’s SO exhausting being on the right side of history."
Democrats Demand Stimulus Bill Include Reparations For Transgender Native Americans Affected By Climate Change | The Babylon Bee - "Democratic lawmakers are blocking the stimulus bill proposed in Congress, slamming their Republican colleagues for refusing to include reparations for transgender Native Americans affected by climate change."
OccupyDemocratsLogic on Twitter - Stephen King on Kayleigh McEnany: "Enjoy your next job as a cocktail waitress in Tampa."
"The people who feign revulsion at jokes about AOC being a bartender...."
Erik Grzela on Twitter - "It's ironic how if you interrupt Harris, you are womanplasting but if you tell a harvard law graduate that her next job is a cocktail waitress ... you are toast of the left"
Love Jihad? Tanishq jewellery pulls down ad on Hindu-Muslim couple amid social media outrage - "Tanishq has reportedly pulled down a jewellery ad that celebrated an interfaith couple amid some on social media accusing the brand of promoting 'love jihad'.The 45-second ad showed a baby shower thrown for a Hindu bride by her Muslim in-laws... Love jihad is an islamophobic conspiracy theory that holds that Muslim men make women of other religions fall in love with them and later marry them to promote conversion"
If they want to promote inter-religious love, why not have a Hindu man and a Muslim woman?
BMW driver given speeding fine at 75 times standard rate after giving middle finger to camera - "The 26-year-old was caught doing 81 kilometres an hour in a 70 zone in Kulmbach, Bavaria.The normal punishment? A very manageable 20 euro fine ($32 AUD). However, a split-second decision to give the middle finger to the speed camera saw that fine thrown out the window.Oberfranken Police decided they wanted to remind the driver of the importance of good manners.So rather than the 20 euro fine, they suspended his licence for one month and slapped him with a 1500 euro fine ($2627 AUD) at the Kulmbach district court"
Kay Lee, trendsetter of hawkers selling recipes, now down to original store - "Kay Lee Roast Meat Joint has been long known for their roasted meats — fatty char siew, crispy roast pork and roast duck. However, that was not why they made the headlines in 2012.Instead, it was because the original owners, Ha Wai Kay and Betty Kong, wanted to sell their recipe and premises for $3.5 million. They made the front pages again in 2014, this time because they managed to find a buyer and sold their business for $4 million to electronics firm Aztech Group, whose chairman took just 10 minutes to seal the deal. At the point of the deal, it was reported that 10 Kay Lee restaurants would be rolled out over the next two years... This turn of events is unexpected given the plans Aztech had shared with The Straits Times about how it would properly plan everything from the operations and marketing to sales and procurement back in 2014. This included hiring food scientists, to learn and document Kay Lee's secret recipes, and experienced industry veteran Sam Ng, who has overseen Chinese restaurant operations in major Singapore hotels.Since making the acquisition of Kay Lee, Aztech Group has delisted from the Singapore Exchange in 2017.Former owners Ha and Kong were also convicted in 2016 and sentenced to four weeks' jail each for tax evasion. They were also fined $164,751.45 per person"
Child Murder by Mothers: A Critical Analysis of the Current State of Knowledge and a Research Agenda - "Among children under age 5 years in the United States who were murdered in the last quarter of the 20th century,61% were killed by their own parents: 30% were killed by their mothers, and 31% by their fathers "
Clearly this means that it's sexist to send women to prison, as feminists say since women are only ever victims
Child murder by mothers: patterns and prevention - "The term neonaticide was coined by Resnick to describe murder of an infant within the first 24 hours of life. Almost all neonaticides are committed by mothers... Infanticide laws often reduce the penalty for mothers who kill their children up to one year of age, based on the principle that a woman who commits infanticide does so because "the balance of her mind is disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child". The British Infanticide Act of 1922 (amended in 1938) allows mothers to be charged with manslaughter rather than murder if they are suffering from a mental disturbance. The law was originally based on the outdated concept of lactational insanity, but the public's desire to excuse sympathetic women caused reluctance to alter the law after lactational insanity was discredited. Women convicted of infanticide often receive probation and referral to mental health treatment rather than incarceration... The majority of nations that have infanticide laws have followed the British precedent and decrease the penalty for mothers killing children under one year old... In practice, however, women convicted of infanticide in England sometimes do not have significant mental illness as technically required by the law . Opponents of infanticide laws point out that fathers are granted far less leniency. A father who is equally psychotically depressed as a mother, who kills his 10-month-old child in an altruistic psychotic belief with an associated suicide attempt, should not be treated differently than a similarly situated mother. Some feminists criticize the infanticide laws for "pathologizing childbirth". They believe that making this exception for women denies them the same capacity for self-governance attributed to men. Furthermore, it is illogical that a mother who in the throes of postpartum psychosis killed her newborn and her two-year-old should be charged with infanticide/manslaughter for the homicide of the newborn and murder for the homicide of the two-yearold. If the U.S. had an infanticide law, Andrea Yates would not have qualified, because in addition to her infant she killed her four older children. An acutely psychotic mother who killed her 13 month old child would not qualify for the infanticide law in England though a mother who battered her 11 month old child might."
WATCH: Bodycam footage shows there's more to the story of that Native American man who got tazed by park rangers - "Another example of why you shouldn't jump to conclusions when you see an out of context video clip. So you probably already saw this video of a Native American man screaming while being tazed by a park ranger.The story was that Darrell House and his sister were hiking off-trail at the Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico when they were accosted by this aggressive park ranger, who ends up ruthlessly tazing House... the bodycam footage came out, and it shows a whole different side of the story. You see the full context leading up to the confrontation. You see House resisting and being obnoxious for a full seven minutes, repeatedly ignoring the officer and trying to walk away, and being warned over and over again that he'd be tazed if he didn't comply.And you see the park ranger, who has been dragged through the mud on social media over this, being almost absurdly polite and kind from the start.He's literally begging the guy to just please comply before he escalates to using the tazer... In this case, the narrative was "all law enforcement officers are bad." And when you mix that in with the fact that this guy was Native American and visiting a historical Native American site, it just looked horrible.But when you consider how much unrest and idiocy has been spawned by narratives propped up by incomplete stories and out of context video clips, you'd think we'd have learned by now to be a little slower to speak until we have the full story."
Meme - "Flowerypowery 4 @littlecutejessy This can't be real. Is this a fucking joke? Most disgusting racist thing i've ever seen in my life"
"Montenegro"
Pachycephalosaurus: Jurassic World’s ‘racist’ dinosaur - "How can a dinosaur be racist? It’s due to their appearance in the blockbuster Jurassic World.
From what I’ve seen, the dinosaurs in Jurassic World are equal-opportunity devourers.
True, but early on in the film, after some pachycephalosauruses have escaped their sector, a character utters the line: “The pachys are out of containment.”
So what? It sounds as if she’s saying: “The Pakis are out of containment.”"
Why people don't trust the press anymore
James Lindsay, increasingly relevant on Twitter - "How Wokeness creates a national security threat.
US math ed: "And if we can have that kind of debate around history, certainly we can have it in math classrooms. Asking, When might 2+2 not equal 4 is a great exercise to have with learners. Understanding that, in most math classrooms, the western (white) world has been centered is important.
Working to bring other perspectives from other cultures into all classrooms...equally important. 2+2=4 2+2=5 I can hold onto both those tensions and...surprise...still teach kids math."
Chinese math ed: *complicated shit*"
Loanshark in S'pore transfers S$200 to man who didn't ask for loan because business is not good - "A 62-year-old man in Singapore became a victim of loanshark harassment even though he had not taken out any loans. The man received a deposit of S$200 in his bank account from the loanshark, who claimed that it was a loan and told him to repay it on time... This happened after he sought a S$7,600 personal loan from a bank, which said that it would get back to him.The day after his visit to the bank, he received a call from the loanshark, who claimed to be a bank employee and asked for his personal details, including his bank account details, which he disclosed... He then returned the S$200 back to the sender, and even closed the bank account involved, hoping that this would be the end of the matter.However, this did not deter the loanshark, and the man soon became the target of loan solicitation.A photo by SMDN appears to show a WhatsApp conversation between the man and the loanshark, with the loanshark offering a S$500 loan at a "good good rate", and a claim that the offeror was being "scold very jialat" for having no customers.The offer was promptly rejected by the man, however, which drew a response of three crying emojis. The loanshark's pleading messages then saw a drastic change in tone.A photo of a gate splashed with red paint was circulated on Facebook, along with a message asking for the man to repay a loan within 24 hours.While the man was not named in the post, some of his personal information was included.The post was accompanied with a threat to set his house on fire if he did not comply, even though he had already transferred back the S$200 that was sent to him."
π·πππ π―πππππ on Twitter - "when i got my first gyno exam as a teenager, the gynecologist asked me what I wanted to do for a career. I said I wanted to be an artist. Then while checking my cervix she said- “i wanted to be a muppeteer”."
