From the images posted on line it looks like the men were executed and then hung up as though crucified. Still horribly dead, of course, and I wouldn’t put crucifixion past them given the report of stoning a young girl to death for opening a Facebook account.
Images of crucified Christians appear to be the real thing, with T shaped crosses rather than the historically inaccurate cross associated with Jesus.
According to this source: http://shariaunveiled.wordpress.com/2014/07/01/isis-crucifies-8-christians-in-syria-for-apostasy-from-islam/
“We have received independent confirmation from our sources inside Syria that these men were former Muslims that had converted to Christianity. They were not ‘..rebel fighters from a rival faction..’ as many news outlets are reporting.
Each of the 8 men were charged with the crime of apostasy for renouncing Islam and converting to Christianity. When confronted by the ISIS members, they refused to “revert” to Islam.
This is the “only” reason they were crucified. According to Islamic jurisprudence, crucifixion is a method of death reserved for Christians. They do not crucify other Muslims.”
So, having spent my life imagining that crucifixion is a thing of the ancient past, unthinkable in the twenty-first century, the reality of our world has managed to horrify me once again. I’m feeling intolerant in the extreme.
NBH, you are really nailing these now. One of your best. Bravo.
Darwin, they only crucify Christians because it says in the sacred texts and their laws that only Muslims are fully human. Everyone else is non-alive so “killing” them isn’t even a misdemeanour. It’s more like stopping a clock or switching off an annoying boom-box.
Torturing and murdering kufari is a goodness.
Give them six hundred years and they may drop their fourteenth century attitudes and evolve into real men. Real civilised men. That’s about how long it took the Christians. Most of the Christians. The saner Christians.
Will we still have a technological society in 2600?
I’m not looking forward to finding out that oil run-out killed it.
I like being wealthier than Roman Emperors.
Travelling into Birmingham by train, my daughter heard 3 Muslim ladies (wearing business attire and obligatory headscarves) conversing.
One young lady was telling her friends of her experience with another friend who had been admonishing her for showing a little (head) hair and how she had been showing a lack of respect (to whom?) The friend had gone on to further chastise her for showing too much wrist …
The young lady then went onto update her friends on her father’s progress with her arranged marriage to someone in Pakistan.
Laugh or cry? A sad sign of our times; worth a cartoon?
RICK: That’s it, I can’t stand it any more. I’m going to crucify myself!
NEIL: You can’t, Rick.
RICK: Oh no? You just watch me!
NEIL: No, Rick, you can’t.
RICK: What, just because you say so?
NEIL: No, Rick, I don’t mean, just you can’t. Nobody can.
RICK: And why not, pray?
NEIL: I’ve tried it. There’s no way to get that last nail in.
Sam Huff, that is not only old, it is slightly crass considering the latest atrocities. Mildly funny, though.
From the same movie: “There ain’t no coming back. Not in the really, real world.” Grafitto to be sprayed on every wall in Islam-land?
I am sure all of you have seen in the news the story of Jim Foley getting beheaded by ISIS. I heard an interview with his parents yesterday. They said that hundreds of their friends had been praying for Jim and that the prayers obviously worked because the prayers enabled Jim to stay strong to the end. I am sorry for their loss, but when the end result of praying for the health and safe return of a loved one is that said loved one gets decapitated, you’ll excuse me for not dumping my atheism ASAP on the theory that prayers actually work.
Flori… you should know by now that X-ians will always find a way, whatever it takes, to spin it so that there’s a `positive’ explanation and it looks right to them re: their prayers, creeds, deeds, etc.
reminds me of Ricky Gervais, on reading on Twitter that ‘Beyonce, Rihanna & Katy Perry send prayers to #Oklahoma #PrayForOklahoma” captioning it, “I feel like an idiot now… I only sent money.”
The latest news is all pretty depressing and what struck me is how bloody tribal all this latest religious idiocy is.
The plight of the Yazidis and their escape from the IslamoLunies is very Old Testament (different book, same shit) – kill the men, kidnap the boys and rape the females.
The **really** depressing thing is that I’m absolutely certain that if the boot was on the other foot – rampaging Christians/Whatevers waving their book at the Muslims – the story would be exactly the same.
“NEIL: I’ve tried it. There’s no way to get that last nail in.”
That sort of task is what your middle leg is for.
If yours isn’t long enough to reach or strong enough to hammer in nails then you may have a problem.
Macha, the more depressing thought is that were it Christians massacring and crucifying Muslims the OilLords would have the UN step in after about the first harsh word. It would have been stomped on well before it got so far as a single death.
These days we use titanium screws, which do require assistance (ref Hotrats),
but leave such nice relics.
However, my misanthropy is on hold while I praise sharp minds and clever
hands. I am now bosom buddies with a pacemaker, literally a shot of fresh oxygen. Prayer can’t do this. Ironically, the wires are fastened into the heart with titanium screws.
Robert not bob you are undoubtedly correct and that is even more depressing. That the lords of the oil would allow massacres of Muslims just because they are the wrong sort of Islamics is quite likely and ever so sad.
They would possibly see it as the hated Christians doing some of their house-cleaning for them, getting rid of some roaches before they, themselves are removed from existence.
It says something about us that we can contemplate and even predict such behaviour. Something very not good.
I want some chocolate and a cream bun. I’m depressed and I want to indulge myself.
I suspect I need a hug.
Robert, not Bob and LastResort, you both may be right, I haven’t followed the latest games in the leagues of religions versus religions religiously enough to be able to tell who is on the outs with whom but I’d agree that there’s a fair chance that any random massacre of random believers would be applauded by some fraction or faction of the other believers.
LastResort, I wish I could give you that hug. I wish I could offer you a cream bun and some chocolate. If it makes you feel any better I’ll owe you one of each.
I won’t say something stupid like “cheer up, it may never happen” or “it can only get better” because it might already have happened and there is never a situation so dire that it can’t get worse.
Usually lots worse. Usually with alarming rapidity.
It’s always darkest just before the torch dies and the smoke rolls in.
But this might lighten your gloom just a bit: once the ISIS cretins are finished sterilising their own homelands and destroying all that is good and pure and lovely therein, they’ll come for us and they’ll win.
Then all of our little problems will be well and truly over.
And won’t that be nice?
LastResort, in reply to your last comment on last week’s discussion: we have this.
Unfortunately, we non-deluded, reasonable folk don’t have anyone to file a bug report with.
Evolution’s a bitch and there’s no one to complain to.
C’est la vie.
I wonder if we could start a cult of a totally impotent, faceless, impersonal Darwinian deity that didn’t ever do anything, will never do anything and hasn’t the consciousness to know if it were doing anything? A blind, useless, weak, non-functional deity that is only there for us to swear at?
Something like gravity only with less force, less will and far less self-awareness.
All we need is a catchy name.
Empiricist, “StringTheory”?
[Hits thumbnail with hammer:] “fukken StriiiiiingTheory on a crutch!”
“M-brane”?
[Catches delicate part in a zipper:] “Buuggrin M-brane on a bike! For M-brane’s sake, next time I’ll wear undies!”
No, these lack a certain cachet, a flavour of the illicit and disapproval. We need an invokable entity that is neither an entity nor an abstract concept that is currently used by any cant [c – A – n -t], jargon or vernacular. Perhaps a newly invented yet easily spoken short nonsense syllable?
“Zelph”?
Not exotic enough. Perhaps “Xzelphth”?
What am I doing? Millions are being dispossessed, shot, tortured, killed, crucified and otherwise inconvenienced and I am playing word games? For rutting Xzelphth’s sake what sort of callousness am I?
Xzelphth on a kite, I should be out there helping.
Shouldn’t I?
No, that one doesn’t work either.
But the point just made remains: were a few million Europeans to flood the ISIS/IS region with bodies willing to help, we could end that nonsense. We could surround the shooters with so much flesh that they could neither raise their guns nor raise their fists.
Then we could arrest those criminals. Arrest them and deport them to jails in a country where the natives speak a tongue totally different from theirs and vote for a different sky-daddy. Separate the combatants so no two are in the same cell block. Treat them like common thugs.
There are sufficient numbers of us to stop the conflicts cold. Borders would not be an issue, nor would the governments of the conflict zones. A mob of a few million concerned citizens would overwhelm any opposition.
I wonder what it would take to organise such an effort?
I wonder whether it would work?
I wonder how many would survive the invasion?
It’s a fantasy, I know, but military force can never work, maybe civilian force could?
How many atheists would be willing to die to protect the believers in some one else’s gods?
Yes.
Should the mob be large enough, should we go in with nothing but our flesh (and some sandwiches and drinks for the journey) and should our purpose be pure and noble and sufficiently clear, I would go.
I think.
Maybe.
Possibly.
Some things are worth the risk. Intellectually, at least. Whether I would have the courage to do it when the go-signal rang out …
If it is ever organised, we’ll see.
But I think it more likely I would “talk a good game”.
I’m ill. I’m old. I’m fat. I’m poor. I’m looking after a house. I’m more the ideas type. I’m far more valuable at HQ organising stuff. I forget where I left my boots. I don’t have good walking shoes. I’m too wealthy to be risked. I haven’t renewed my passport. I’ve never had a passport. I just couldn’t break the law by crossing borders without a passport. I’m allergic to foreign foods. I need my medications. I’m a fukken coward.
Given time, I am sure I could dream up a few million more excuses but that last one is probably the most true.
Bummer.
There should have been a ” open-angle-bracket-I-close-angle-bracket” after the “had” in the ” … had a passport.” There was, but it had an extraneous backslash. That turned off italics when it was already off rather than turning it back on as was intended.
Contrary to Mr. Baley’s assertion, having a slash when you do not need one can be harmful.
LastResort: I’m cultivating the habit of thanking random, or hoping to random. It should be randomness, but that’s just too much to say. Too many syllables.
For some years now my deity has been ‘Fuck’ – as in ‘for Fuck’s sake!’, ‘Oh, Fuck!’, ‘What the Fuck?’ and so on. Perhaps unsuitable in the company of juveniles, but not so unsuitable as ‘God’.
RossR, “In the name of Zilch will you stop practising on the Zilch-forsaken bagpipes at three in the Zilch-damned morning?!”
I think I prefer hotrats’ choice.
LastResort, wouldn’t that be a “crusade”? Aren’t they unlawful, now? Something to do with artificial sweeteners in the ingredients?
So long as we don’t call it anything with “-ade” or “-aid” in the name, I’m up for it if we can get enough numbers. It could be fun and it would at least piss off a few government types which is always a good idea.
Yes, hotrats. Then there would be an investigation which would in fact be yet another instinctive attempt at a cover-up and the facts would slowly come out as … wait for it{note 1} … the Watergategategate scandal.
Then someone would start a charity effort to support the unjustly accused in that scandal, which would give us Watergategategateaid.
Eventually, corruption in the charity would lead to …{note 2}
And so it is that one can so easily be put off “-gates” and “-aids” for life or longer.
Note 1: Don’t tell me you weren’t miles ahead of me there.
Note 2: for those still half-asleep, like me currently, Watergategategateaidgate. I think I’ll stop, now before the wrongfully accused in that one have a charity effort.
A last comment for this week’s ‘toon: J’s reluctance to condone the method of execution would probably not be because of his recent{note 1} experience with it. Were such things to influence our actions a certain Corporal would never have started a second round of The War after going through the first one.
It seems that “seeing the effalump” does not make humans to sqeamish to do it again.
Which is a bloody shame.
And possibly another bug in the software.
.
Note 1: the bugger’s reportedly immortal and eternal. Two millennia would be a flick of the eyelid to such as him, so “recent” is apt.
The “intolerant doctrine of tolerance” line is prescient (or predetermined?). There was an opinion piece in the Guardian 26 August. I’m not sure if posting URLs is cool so if you want to read it, search for “Tolerance is bigotry’s counterpart in keeping Muslims divided” (it may be on the Guardian Australia site).
Empiricist, the certain Corporal started his new war in the position of (relatively safe) head of state instead of footsoldier. And he never showed any particular concern for the lives of his troops or citizens. Doesn’t invalidate your point though.
Robert not Bob, yes, the point I was making was that having seen suffering one would expect a compassionate, humane and human being to do everything in his power to avoid any more. Some, however, do not seem to work that way. I do but so many are only too wiling to do it all again only worse.
It’s either another bug in the wetware or part of the same one.
Bug report to Zilch, Xzelphth, Random and Fuck, who are obviously the firm of lawyers running this place.
Jesus & Mo (the characters) are absurd, blinkered, and oddly very sweet. J&M (the cartoon) is brilliant: sharp, delicious, irresistible. Salman Rushdie
Jesus and Mo cartoons are wonderfully funny and true. Richard Dawkins
Jesus and Mo make the world a better place, bless their little hearts. Ophelia Benson
In a world defined by outrage and offence and liberal spinelessness, Jesus and Mo is a treasure, whose value we should never fail to recognize. Read them. Laugh. And think. Kenan Malik
The brilliant, celebrated, freaking hilarious atheist comic strip ... Greta Christina
...rays of sanity in a befuddled world. Keri Hulme
The liveliest depictions of Muhammad currently available... Malise Ruthven
J & Mo is the funniest and most consistently thought-provoking cartoon strip on the Net. In a saner world, it would run in a major newspaper. Nelson Jones, Heresy Corner
Consistently amusing, frequently thought-provoking and often heart-warming. New Humanist
Jesus & Mo is one of the most wonderful things on the internet.. JT Eberhard
Wittily captures much of the absurdity of religious apologetics. Mano Singham
I love jesusandmo.net cartoons - witty and sharp! Katha Pollitt
Often hilarious, frequently wry, these cartoons do what all the best cartoons do: they tell the truth through humour. Terry Sanderson, NSS President
...a wonderfully acid British cartoonist... Nick Cohen
I love the scrappy mockery of Jesus and Mo. Freedom of speech
includes the freedom to mock any person, any thing, any activity, and
any belief -- and J&M stands up for this unflinchingly Richard Stallman
...empowering, important and deeply progressive, not to mention hilarious... Council of Ex-Muslims
February 20, 2019
‘Intolerant doctrine of tolerance’.
Genius.
Mo’s finally word sets-off irony meters everywhere. Spoing!
‘Intolerant doctrine of tolerance’.
Wonderful.
Thank you Author, a sane voice in an insane world.
Is there an ‘it’s’ missing from the first panel?
Is this intolerant doctrine of tolerance the reason why have to tolerate the intolerant?
The Roman’s bread and game
Kept the rabble relatively tame
Now the Islamic jihad
Has gotten quite bad
Perhaps, best described as insane.
Timely, given the recent beheading.
seymoursff
The Islamic State has been crucifying “dissidents” in Syria and Iraq.
From the images posted on line it looks like the men were executed and then hung up as though crucified. Still horribly dead, of course, and I wouldn’t put crucifixion past them given the report of stoning a young girl to death for opening a Facebook account.
Images of crucified Christians appear to be the real thing, with T shaped crosses rather than the historically inaccurate cross associated with Jesus.
According to this source: http://shariaunveiled.wordpress.com/2014/07/01/isis-crucifies-8-christians-in-syria-for-apostasy-from-islam/
“We have received independent confirmation from our sources inside Syria that these men were former Muslims that had converted to Christianity. They were not ‘..rebel fighters from a rival faction..’ as many news outlets are reporting.
Each of the 8 men were charged with the crime of apostasy for renouncing Islam and converting to Christianity. When confronted by the ISIS members, they refused to “revert” to Islam.
This is the “only” reason they were crucified. According to Islamic jurisprudence, crucifixion is a method of death reserved for Christians. They do not crucify other Muslims.”
So, having spent my life imagining that crucifixion is a thing of the ancient past, unthinkable in the twenty-first century, the reality of our world has managed to horrify me once again. I’m feeling intolerant in the extreme.
NBH, you are really nailing these now. One of your best. Bravo.
Nassar – that is brilliant. Well played.
Darwin, they only crucify Christians because it says in the sacred texts and their laws that only Muslims are fully human. Everyone else is non-alive so “killing” them isn’t even a misdemeanour. It’s more like stopping a clock or switching off an annoying boom-box.
Torturing and murdering kufari is a goodness.
Give them six hundred years and they may drop their fourteenth century attitudes and evolve into real men. Real civilised men. That’s about how long it took the Christians. Most of the Christians. The saner Christians.
Will we still have a technological society in 2600?
I’m not looking forward to finding out that oil run-out killed it.
I like being wealthier than Roman Emperors.
Travelling into Birmingham by train, my daughter heard 3 Muslim ladies (wearing business attire and obligatory headscarves) conversing.
One young lady was telling her friends of her experience with another friend who had been admonishing her for showing a little (head) hair and how she had been showing a lack of respect (to whom?) The friend had gone on to further chastise her for showing too much wrist …
The young lady then went onto update her friends on her father’s progress with her arranged marriage to someone in Pakistan.
Laugh or cry? A sad sign of our times; worth a cartoon?
So Jesus walks into a Motel, put three nails on the counter and says, “Can you put me up for the night?”
Fron ‘The Young Ones’:
RICK: That’s it, I can’t stand it any more. I’m going to crucify myself!
NEIL: You can’t, Rick.
RICK: Oh no? You just watch me!
NEIL: No, Rick, you can’t.
RICK: What, just because you say so?
NEIL: No, Rick, I don’t mean, just you can’t. Nobody can.
RICK: And why not, pray?
NEIL: I’ve tried it. There’s no way to get that last nail in.
Sam Huff, that is not only old, it is slightly crass considering the latest atrocities. Mildly funny, though.
From the same movie: “There ain’t no coming back. Not in the really, real world.” Grafitto to be sprayed on every wall in Islam-land?
I am sure all of you have seen in the news the story of Jim Foley getting beheaded by ISIS. I heard an interview with his parents yesterday. They said that hundreds of their friends had been praying for Jim and that the prayers obviously worked because the prayers enabled Jim to stay strong to the end. I am sorry for their loss, but when the end result of praying for the health and safe return of a loved one is that said loved one gets decapitated, you’ll excuse me for not dumping my atheism ASAP on the theory that prayers actually work.
Flori… you should know by now that X-ians will always find a way, whatever it takes, to spin it so that there’s a `positive’ explanation and it looks right to them re: their prayers, creeds, deeds, etc.
FKS:
reminds me of Ricky Gervais, on reading on Twitter that ‘Beyonce, Rihanna & Katy Perry send prayers to #Oklahoma #PrayForOklahoma” captioning it, “I feel like an idiot now… I only sent money.”
Which do you think accomplishes more, two hands open to help or a thousand closed in prayer?
The latest news is all pretty depressing and what struck me is how bloody tribal all this latest religious idiocy is.
The plight of the Yazidis and their escape from the IslamoLunies is very Old Testament (different book, same shit) – kill the men, kidnap the boys and rape the females.
The **really** depressing thing is that I’m absolutely certain that if the boot was on the other foot – rampaging Christians/Whatevers waving their book at the Muslims – the story would be exactly the same.
Through HotratsFron ‘The Young Ones’:
“NEIL: I’ve tried it. There’s no way to get that last nail in.”
That sort of task is what your middle leg is for.
If yours isn’t long enough to reach or strong enough to hammer in nails then you may have a problem.
Macha, the more depressing thought is that were it Christians massacring and crucifying Muslims the OilLords would have the UN step in after about the first harsh word. It would have been stomped on well before it got so far as a single death.
These days we use titanium screws, which do require assistance (ref Hotrats),
but leave such nice relics.
However, my misanthropy is on hold while I praise sharp minds and clever
hands. I am now bosom buddies with a pacemaker, literally a shot of fresh oxygen. Prayer can’t do this. Ironically, the wires are fastened into the heart with titanium screws.
Empiricist, I suspect it would depend on which kind of Muslim they were.
Holiday in Cambodia
Robert not bob you are undoubtedly correct and that is even more depressing. That the lords of the oil would allow massacres of Muslims just because they are the wrong sort of Islamics is quite likely and ever so sad.
They would possibly see it as the hated Christians doing some of their house-cleaning for them, getting rid of some roaches before they, themselves are removed from existence.
It says something about us that we can contemplate and even predict such behaviour. Something very not good.
I want some chocolate and a cream bun. I’m depressed and I want to indulge myself.
I suspect I need a hug.
Robert, not Bob and LastResort, you both may be right, I haven’t followed the latest games in the leagues of religions versus religions religiously enough to be able to tell who is on the outs with whom but I’d agree that there’s a fair chance that any random massacre of random believers would be applauded by some fraction or faction of the other believers.
LastResort, I wish I could give you that hug. I wish I could offer you a cream bun and some chocolate. If it makes you feel any better I’ll owe you one of each.
I won’t say something stupid like “cheer up, it may never happen” or “it can only get better” because it might already have happened and there is never a situation so dire that it can’t get worse.
Usually lots worse. Usually with alarming rapidity.
It’s always darkest just before the torch dies and the smoke rolls in.
But this might lighten your gloom just a bit: once the ISIS cretins are finished sterilising their own homelands and destroying all that is good and pure and lovely therein, they’ll come for us and they’ll win.
Then all of our little problems will be well and truly over.
And won’t that be nice?
Peace on Earth.
LastResort, in reply to your last comment on last week’s discussion: we have this.
Unfortunately, we non-deluded, reasonable folk don’t have anyone to file a bug report with.
Evolution’s a bitch and there’s no one to complain to.
C’est la vie.
I wonder if we could start a cult of a totally impotent, faceless, impersonal Darwinian deity that didn’t ever do anything, will never do anything and hasn’t the consciousness to know if it were doing anything? A blind, useless, weak, non-functional deity that is only there for us to swear at?
Something like gravity only with less force, less will and far less self-awareness.
All we need is a catchy name.
Empiricist, “StringTheory”?
[Hits thumbnail with hammer:] “fukken StriiiiiingTheory on a crutch!”
“M-brane”?
[Catches delicate part in a zipper:] “Buuggrin M-brane on a bike! For M-brane’s sake, next time I’ll wear undies!”
No, these lack a certain cachet, a flavour of the illicit and disapproval. We need an invokable entity that is neither an entity nor an abstract concept that is currently used by any cant [c – A – n -t], jargon or vernacular. Perhaps a newly invented yet easily spoken short nonsense syllable?
“Zelph”?
Not exotic enough. Perhaps “Xzelphth”?
What am I doing? Millions are being dispossessed, shot, tortured, killed, crucified and otherwise inconvenienced and I am playing word games? For rutting Xzelphth’s sake what sort of callousness am I?
Xzelphth on a kite, I should be out there helping.
Shouldn’t I?
No, that one doesn’t work either.
But the point just made remains: were a few million Europeans to flood the ISIS/IS region with bodies willing to help, we could end that nonsense. We could surround the shooters with so much flesh that they could neither raise their guns nor raise their fists.
Then we could arrest those criminals. Arrest them and deport them to jails in a country where the natives speak a tongue totally different from theirs and vote for a different sky-daddy. Separate the combatants so no two are in the same cell block. Treat them like common thugs.
There are sufficient numbers of us to stop the conflicts cold. Borders would not be an issue, nor would the governments of the conflict zones. A mob of a few million concerned citizens would overwhelm any opposition.
I wonder what it would take to organise such an effort?
I wonder whether it would work?
I wonder how many would survive the invasion?
It’s a fantasy, I know, but military force can never work, maybe civilian force could?
How many atheists would be willing to die to protect the believers in some one else’s gods?
Yes.
Should the mob be large enough, should we go in with nothing but our flesh (and some sandwiches and drinks for the journey) and should our purpose be pure and noble and sufficiently clear, I would go.
I think.
Maybe.
Possibly.
Some things are worth the risk. Intellectually, at least. Whether I would have the courage to do it when the go-signal rang out …
If it is ever organised, we’ll see.
But I think it more likely I would “talk a good game”.
I’m ill. I’m old. I’m fat. I’m poor. I’m looking after a house. I’m more the ideas type. I’m far more valuable at HQ organising stuff. I forget where I left my boots. I don’t have good walking shoes. I’m too wealthy to be risked. I haven’t renewed my passport. I’ve never had a passport. I just couldn’t break the law by crossing borders without a passport. I’m allergic to foreign foods. I need my medications. I’m a fukken coward.
Given time, I am sure I could dream up a few million more excuses but that last one is probably the most true.
Bummer.
There should have been a ” open-angle-bracket-I-close-angle-bracket” after the “had” in the ” … had a passport.” There was, but it had an extraneous backslash. That turned off italics when it was already off rather than turning it back on as was intended.
Contrary to Mr. Baley’s assertion, having a slash when you do not need one can be harmful.
LastResort: I’m cultivating the habit of thanking random, or hoping to random. It should be randomness, but that’s just too much to say. Too many syllables.
For some years now my deity has been ‘Fuck’ – as in ‘for Fuck’s sake!’, ‘Oh, Fuck!’, ‘What the Fuck?’ and so on. Perhaps unsuitable in the company of juveniles, but not so unsuitable as ‘God’.
LastResort, some words might serve in spite of already having a meaning – how about Zilch ?
RossR, “In the name of Zilch will you stop practising on the Zilch-forsaken bagpipes at three in the Zilch-damned morning?!”
I think I prefer hotrats’ choice.
LastResort, wouldn’t that be a “crusade”? Aren’t they unlawful, now? Something to do with artificial sweeteners in the ingredients?
So long as we don’t call it anything with “-ade” or “-aid” in the name, I’m up for it if we can get enough numbers. It could be fun and it would at least piss off a few government types which is always a good idea.
… or ” … -gate”.
Every random-damned thing in existence is a “-gate” of some sort now. Sometimes, I wish the dumb buggers had burglerised the Hilton.
And of course if the original botched burglary by the president’s spooks were to be re-enacted today, the scandal would be called Watergategate.
Yes, hotrats. Then there would be an investigation which would in fact be yet another instinctive attempt at a cover-up and the facts would slowly come out as … wait for it{note 1} … the Watergategategate scandal.
Then someone would start a charity effort to support the unjustly accused in that scandal, which would give us Watergategategateaid.
Eventually, corruption in the charity would lead to …{note 2}
And so it is that one can so easily be put off “-gates” and “-aids” for life or longer.
Note 1: Don’t tell me you weren’t miles ahead of me there.
Note 2: for those still half-asleep, like me currently, Watergategategateaidgate. I think I’ll stop, now before the wrongfully accused in that one have a charity effort.
A last comment for this week’s ‘toon: J’s reluctance to condone the method of execution would probably not be because of his recent{note 1} experience with it. Were such things to influence our actions a certain Corporal would never have started a second round of The War after going through the first one.
It seems that “seeing the effalump” does not make humans to sqeamish to do it again.
Which is a bloody shame.
And possibly another bug in the software.
.
Note 1: the bugger’s reportedly immortal and eternal. Two millennia would be a flick of the eyelid to such as him, so “recent” is apt.
Oh, dear. “too squeamish”.
And I do so know the difference!
The “intolerant doctrine of tolerance” line is prescient (or predetermined?). There was an opinion piece in the Guardian 26 August. I’m not sure if posting URLs is cool so if you want to read it, search for “Tolerance is bigotry’s counterpart in keeping Muslims divided” (it may be on the Guardian Australia site).
Empiricist, the certain Corporal started his new war in the position of (relatively safe) head of state instead of footsoldier. And he never showed any particular concern for the lives of his troops or citizens. Doesn’t invalidate your point though.
Robert not Bob, yes, the point I was making was that having seen suffering one would expect a compassionate, humane and human being to do everything in his power to avoid any more. Some, however, do not seem to work that way. I do but so many are only too wiling to do it all again only worse.
It’s either another bug in the wetware or part of the same one.
Bug report to Zilch, Xzelphth, Random and Fuck, who are obviously the firm of lawyers running this place.