Absurdity

Source: www.iht.com --- 24 days ago
The jailed founder of Russia's Yukos oil company on Tuesday rejected new official charges against him as absurd. ...

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com --- 7 days ago
From today's Wall Street Journal editorial page : "The Washington Post has criticized this as obstinate, and Democratic foreign policy analyst Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution reacted this way: 'To say you're going to get out on a certain schedule -- regardless of what the Iraqis do, regardless of what our enemies do, regardless of what is happening on the ground -- is the height of Absurdity.' " Which leads me to wonder if, when people like the editors of The Wall Street Journal, Michael O'Hanlon or the editors of The Washington Post (among many, many, many others, of course) attack Barack Obama's plans for Iraq, it might be a good idea -- for the sake of fairness and intellectual honesty -- to preface their remarks by saying: "Of course, it was the judgment of people like me who caused this catastrophe, and nothing I predicted before the war has actually turned out to be true, while Obama was not only correct about its likely effects, but also prophetic. Still, for reasons I can not even begin to explain, much less justify, I feel qualified to instruct him that ..." To read the rest of Altercation, click here . ...

Source: ma.gnolia.com --- 14 days ago
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Source: english.ohmynews.com --- 9 days ago
Humanity must punish those who promoted and capitalised on this adventure we have embarked on, this adventure of the promotion of peace and prosperity while undergoing a process of war and misery, but unless we have... ...

Source: linuxtoday.com --- 8 days ago
Computerworld: "One of the big stories recently was how brave Sir Red Hat tamed a software patent dragon, ensuring that all those in Free Softwareland could sleep safely:" ...

Source: voices.kansascity.com --- 35 days ago
By Nick Mangiaracina, Kansas City Star Contributing Writer Welcome to my article. Oh, I’m sorry; I can’t let you continue reading this. Well, some of you can continue reading, but others can’t. Don’t worry though; I only have about 10 simple rules you’ll have to follow if you want to keep reading. What’s that? No, it’s not that I don’t want as many people to read this as possible; I just don’t want certain people to read it. read more ...

Source: blog.wfmu.org --- 28 days ago
Here are a few rare clips of Italian prog, arranged in order of ridiculousness and in inverse order of talent. On the top left are the absurdly overdramatic Officina Meccanica. There are some legitimately good moments here, but I'm mostly... ...

Source: www.redstate.com --- 19 days ago
The transition from primary to general election campaign mode has seen Barack Obama (D-IL) perform whiplash-inducing 180°s on Iraq , on abortion , on the DC gun ban , on FISA and telecom immunity , on welfare reform , on the death penalty for child rapists , on debating John McCain "anywhere, any time," on the financing of his campaign , and on too many others to recount here (not to mention on Jim Johnson , on Jeremiah Wright , on Wes Clark , on Austan Goolsbee , on Samantha Power , on Tony Rezko , and on Scarlett Johansson , as well as on too many other people to recount). Those flips which have put him to the right of that famous Triangulating Moderate, Bill Clinton, recently caught the attention -- and the ire -- of the ever-vigilant New York Times editorial board. On July 4 the NYT featured an editorial titled "New and Not Improved" that, in part, said the following about what the editors called Obama's "perplexing shifts in position": Senator Barack Obama stirred his legions of supporters, and raised our hopes, promising to change the old order of things. He spoke with passion about breaking out of the partisan mold of bickering and catering to special pleaders, promised to end President Bush’s abuses of power and subverting of the Constitution and disowned the big-money power brokers who have corrupted Washington politics. Now there seems to be a new Barack Obama on the hustings. First, he broke his promise to try to keep bo ...

Source: scienceblogs.com --- 1 day ago
I've been having an amusing exchange with former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt on the religion law listserv. The man is almost impossibly ridiculous. The discussion began when someone posted a link to an article about the Texas State Board of Education refusing to issue guidelines for the Bible courses they've approved. I replied with the following comment: Having seen some of the material already at use in many Bible courses in Texas, I can only say that the State board of education is being incredibly irresponsible in not spelling out exactly what can and can't be taught in such classes. Local school districts are inevitably going to teach this course in constitutionally dubious ways without such guidance. Terri Leo claims that providing such guidelines might lead to a lawsuit; not providing them is going to lead to many such suits - and sooner rather than later. They are doing the same thing the Louisiana legislature is doing with the recent "academic freedom" legislation, inviting local schools into a "Dover trap." The result is going to be very ugly and very expensive. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... ...

Source: www.ifc.com --- 9 days ago
By Sarah Scully In a commentary on how off-base some of the attacks on Barack Obama have been, the New Yorker put out a cover illustrating nearly every slanderous charge that has been leveled against the candidate. As a result, they have offended the candidate and invited censure from his supporters. On the one hand, New Yorker readers are largely assumed to be highly educated, fairly liberal and appreciative of the Colbert-style sarcasm that the magazine was going for but on the other hand, it is a nationally circulated periodical that is displayed on grocery store racks in full view of the 12 percent who think Obama is Muslim (only 57% believe he is Christian). Didn't David Remnick foresee this backlash? Did he hope that the Democrats would use this as an opportunity to emphasize how laughable the attacks on the Obama family's patriotism and background have been? Wouldn't that have been a better way to go for the Obama camp instead of contriving moral outrage and feigning incomprehension of irony or would it be too great of a political risk? ...

Source: www.skynewswire.com --- 20 days ago
(SkyNewswire.com)-- Why would God have you speak in a tongue you don’t understand, when He surely has no problems interpreting your mother tongue? Why did God give such a gift back then or nowadays for that matter? A subject debated between different Christian denominations, the speaking in tongues as the gift of the Holly Spirit is still highly controversial to this day; some say it exists, some say it does not or other say that it might be, but only in known tongues. For those who believe that all the gifts of the Holly Spirit are present in the Church today, things seem to be pretty straightforward and simplistic: The Bible says that the faith "was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3b), therefore it should be the way it was in the first place and no modifications added or taken out of it. ...

Source: www.newsherald.com --- 8 days ago
 USA Network's "Psych," which returns for Season 3 on Friday, is a little bit absurd. ...

Source: feministing.com --- 17 days ago
An 18-year old girl from Auckland has accused four players of the England rugby union team of raping her , and the team has gone into victim-blaming overdrive. But what has since followed that night at the Hilton is a mountain of suspicion about the woman's intent and an insane thought from the football union's chief, Francis Baron, that this has all been a "sting" . Yes, a plot by the "bitter" All Blacks to bring down English rugby. ...The British paper The Independent said those insiders believed the allegations of rape after the first Test in Auckland were "designed to destabilise" England. "If there had been any substance in the case it should have been dealt with," a Twickenham official said. "The whole episode has been unsatisfactory, but you have to remember that New Zealand are still bitter with us over their exit from the World Cup." (Emphasis mine) Ri-ight. It's amazing how this young woman has been completely erased and dehumanized - she's just part of a larger plan to bring down a team, she was a willing participant, a groupie, a liar. I'm just so sick of it. Jessica Halloran, who penned the above article about the case, notes that in the past decade, all English soccer players who have had sexual assault allegations made against them have had the charges dropped. And for the past 28 years, "not one professional footballer from any major Australian football code has been convicted of sexual assault." And something tell ...

Source: www.democracyarsenal.org --- 11 days ago
The New Republic has a great editorial today on the absurd notion that is somehow developing around Barack Obama's "refinement" of his Iraq policy: Flip-flopping has become the most damning accusation against a politician speaks to the poverty of the... ...

Source: www.metrowestdailynews.com --- 6 days ago
In 1822 Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guards against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind." The things we're being told by the powers that be and the actions being taken are so unreasonable, they border on the criminal and qualify for the most monstrous. Some of our troops, once wounded are needlessly bleeding to death due to the lack of supplies such as field dressings designed to staunch bleeding on the battlefield. As futuristic as it sounds, the military is designing weapons that can kill from outer space. A satellite will be able to shoot a weapon so small and with such precision that it can penetrate a person's skull causing instant death. We can spend billions on weapons to kill but we can't come up with alternative energy sources. Another monstrosity we accept is Blackwater Security, a company founded by an evangelical Christian that hires mercenaries to kill people. That, in and of itself, confounds logic, but that doesn't stop us from having them on the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, or in Iraq killing innocent civilians with immunity. As preposterous as it seems on the one hand we're told that the detainees at Guantanamo have no rights, yet when these same detainees appear in their tribunals and speak of the psychotropic drugs they're given, we can't hear what they have to say due to their HIPAA rights. ...

Source: www.boxxet.com --- 10 days ago
 NY - After the jump, Rosenberg adapts the cult of personality model to Anderson Cooper and Tim Russert... More than just its anchor, Cooper is the weeknight ... Katie Couric, news anchors and the cult of personality Los Angeles Times all 5 news articles Original story at mediabistro.com . Related stories include: ABC Sees 'Impressive Gains in Iraq' While CBS Finds Bad Hospitals - NewsBusters.org , ABC Sees ‘Impressive Gains in Iraq’ While CBS Finds Bad Hospitals - All Channels Broadcast Radio and ... Los Angeles Times , Inside Cable View all 5 related news and blogs, plus related videos, photos and more at Boxxet for Anderson Cooper . ...

Source: www.charleston.net --- 13 days ago
THE GREAT DERANGEMENT: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, & Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire. By Matt Taibbi. Spiegel & Grau. 269 pages. $24. Yes, there are superficial similarities. But is author Matt Taibbi really the designated heir... ...

Source: christmasquotes.wordpress.com --- 21 days ago
In the consciousness of the truth he has perceived, man now sees everywhere only the awfulness or the Absurdity of existence… and loathing seizes him. - Nietzsche Cute Quotes ...

Source: www.sector404.org --- 19 days ago
Obama cited Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman as presidents who met with enemies. Does he know no history? Neither Roosevelt nor Truman ever met with any of the leaders of the Axis powers. Obama must be referring to the pictures he’s seen of Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, and Truman and Stalin at Potsdam. Does [...] ...