COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, March 08, 2010

Nigeria Muslims Slaughter 500 Christian Men Woman and Children.



Nigeria BBC

Mark Lipdo of the Stefanos Foundation said he witnessed the massacre

Some 500 people, including many women and children, are now reported to have died in a weekend religious clash near Nigeria's city of Jos, officials say.

The figure had previously been put at about 100 but it is always difficult to verify casualties. Local officials said dozens of arrests had been made.

They said three mainly Christian villages near Jos were attacked from nearby hills by people with machetes.
There is a long history of local tension between Muslims and Christians.

The attacks are said to have been in revenge for the killing of several hundred people around Jos in January.
Although sectarianism is blamed for such clashes, correspondents say poverty and access to resources such as land often lie at the root of the violence.

'Heinous act'

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has put security forces on alert to stop the flow of weapons to the area.

The AFP news agency reports that troops and military vehicles have entered the villages, which are now said to be calm.

An adviser to the Christian-dominated Plateau state government, Dan Manjang, told AFP: "We have been able to make 95 arrests but at the same time over 500 people have been killed in this heinous act."

Another Plateau state official, Gregory Yenlong, urged people to "remain calm and be patient as the government steps up security to protect lives and property in this state".

Many of the dead in the villages of Zot and Dogo-Nahawa are reported to be women and children.

Mark Lipdo, from the Christian charity Stefanos Foundation, said the village of Zot had been almost wiped out.
He said: "We saw mainly those who are helpless, like small children and then the older men, who cannot run, these were the ones that were slaughtered."

A resident of Dogo-Nahawa said the attackers had fired guns as they entered the village before dawn on Sunday in defiance of a curfew.

"The shooting was just meant to bring people from their houses and then when people came out they started cutting them with machetes," Peter Jang told Reuters news agency.

Some witnesses said villagers were caught in fishing nets and animal traps as they tried to escape and were then hacked to death. Mud huts were also set on fire.

Mass burials took place on Sunday and scores more bodies were laid out in the streets of the three attacked villages, awaiting further burials on Monday.

Figures given for the death tolls in the religious clashes have varied widely, sometimes to achieve political ends or to reduce the risk of reprisals, or simply because victims are buried quickly.

Jos lies between the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria and its largely Christian south.

Analysts say the latest attack seems to be in reprisal for the clashes between Christians and Muslims in January, which claimed the lives of at least 200 people and displaced thousands of others.

Hundreds of people have fled from Jos in the aftermath of the fighting, the International Committee of the Red Cross says.

The religious clashes represent a challenge for the acting leader, Mr Jonathan. He formally took over last month from President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has a heart problem.

Mr Yar'Adua returned from three months of treatment in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago but has still not been seen in public.

Mr Jonathan is a Christian from the Niger Delta and President Yar'Adua is a Muslim northerner.

Last week their ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) said it would field a northerner as its candidate in next year's presidential election, ruling out Mr Jonathan.

Under an unwritten power-sharing agreement within the PDP, the party's candidates for the presidency alternate between north and south after every two terms in office.

Mr Yar'Adua became president in 2007, succeeding Olusegun Obasanjo, a southern Christian who served two terms.


WHAT CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN?
Would you believe Miss World?





60 comments:

  1. Machetes, weapon of choice n Rwanda, too.

    No government security forces, not even police to stem the violence. The government's intel net amongst their opposition, must not be to good.

    Will the Government strike back, that is the question of the moment, seemingly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Future of "Fuel" in America

    IIRC, we get about a million barrels of oil/day from Nigeria.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And, not mentioned, rufus, is that yield per acre could at least quadruple, if the feedstock was changed from corn to sweet sorghum.

    If the distillery capacity were available.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Who cares about 500 Christian Black Nigerians dead when Israel uses tear gas and rubber bullets to quell a riot after services at the Dome of the Rock when moslems threw rocks at jews below them

    israel, of course was brought up at the UNSC, and another World Opinion was issued forth, for the 1st time in 16 years the USA did not prevent the statement to be issued...

    What we have here is perfect teaching opportunity...

    500 Christians hacked to death is not a crime since MOSLEMS did it..

    It is a crime to PREVENT MOSLEMS from murder...

    Hence Israel is condemned for stopping murder...

    Let's all remember to OPPOSE Islamic Murder is a crime...

    SO let's all thank those 500 Nigerians Christians for NOT violating international law and fighting back

    ReplyDelete
  5. it's blatent hypocracy and it's meant to send a message. "your rules dont apply to us and our rules apply to you." its as simple as that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is is an "ETHNIC" problem, sort of like a "YOUTH" problem:

    Ethnic Violence in Nigeria Kills 500, Officials Say

    By ADAM NOSSITER
    Published: March 8, 2010

    New York Times

    DAKAR, Senegal — Officials and human rights groups in Nigeria said Monday that about 500 people had died in weekend ethnic violence near the central city of Jos, considerably more than what had initially been reported.

    A government spokesman said Sunday that the dead numbered more than 300. The victims were Christians killed by rampaging Muslim herdsmen, officials and human rights workers said, apparently in reprisal for similar attacks on Muslims in January.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 7,700 kids in Harlem go to Charter Schools. They are chosen by Lottery. (That's a very important factoid, because it does away with the opponents argument that the Charter School just "creams the crop."

    So, how are they doing? They are kicking freakin' ass!

    They are outperforming the lily-white "private schools" ten days to Sunday.

    The Teachers Unions (and the Democrat politicians that are owned by them) are going berserk. Trying to shut them down.

    ReplyDelete
  8. apparently in reprisal for similar attacks on Muslims in January.

    I'd like to hear more about that.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd like to hear more about that.

    probably for some egregious offense i'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Scott Adams:


    Crazy or Disciplined?
    Mar 2, 2010 General Nonsense

    There's a fine line between crazy and entrepreneurial. If you bark at the moon to make it go away, you are considered crazy. But if you start a business for which there is less than a 5% chance of success, you are considered an entrepreneur.

    If you feel the need to turn a light switch on and off exactly seven times before leaving a room, you have OCD. If you need to run exactly five miles every day before breakfast to feel right, you are considered disciplined and athletic.

    On one hand, it is clearly different to engage in activities that have no practical value versus ones that do. Or ones that might. But what if the reason you engage in practical activities has nothing to do with your ability to reason, and everything to do with being lucky that your particular brand of crazy has some utility? That blurs the line.

    I often think I was one lucky break away from being the crazy uncle who couldn't stop drawing pictures. For me, drawing was as much a compulsion as a career decision. From my earliest age, I drew on everything that would stand still. It's an extraordinary bit of luck that my compulsion turned out to be practice.

    Warren Buffett modestly says he was lucky that his brain is wired in a way that suits the times. A few hundred years ago he would have been the crazy peasant who was always talking about ways to increase crop production if only he had the capital.

    A Muslim, a Christian, and a crazy guy walk into a room. The one thing you can know for sure is that at least two out of three of them organize their lives around things that aren't real. And that's the best case scenario. Atheists would say all three have some explaining to do. And atheists are the minority, which is the very definition of abnormal.

    My wife and I often have very different recollections of events. And not just the little details. Sometimes our shared memories don't even feature the same mammals, themes, or points. The scary part is that we don't realize these differences until we have some reason to compare memories, which doesn't come up that often. Every now and then there will some independent way to verify whose memory is accurate, and it is sobering to discover how many of the problems are on my end. A lot of my so-called life is apparently a patchwork of delusions.

    The best you can hope for in this life is that your delusions are benign and your compulsions have utility.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If you watch the video , you will get your answer.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A good place to start would probably be to "not go around killing people."

    ReplyDelete
  13. I added a video the gives further background. There were two main causes, the imposition of Sharia law and a Miss World Beauty contest. A good muzzie would rather fuck a goat or a twelve year old boy than look at a real woman.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Opting for charter school entry demonstrates to some degree an active interest in the education of one's child, which interest is often a critical determinant in academic achievement, other things being roughly equal.

    Charter schools don't "cream the crop" among prospective students, but rather among their parents.

    Recalling the charter school controversies - like running blood baths - of more than a decade ago, it seems to me the concept is now far more widely embraced as a legitimate alternative to cookie-cutter education and far less likely to be banished by jealous interests.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I tried to watch it. I'm just not interested. I can't Get interested. I'm sorry they're killing each other; but they've been doing it for thousands, and thousands of years.

    It ain't going to change.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Rahm moves a little closer this week to his resignation. (Which I peg at midterm, regardless.) What Wolfowitz was to WH-Pentagon relations, Rahm is to WH-Hill relations.

    There's a constructive role for him, probably - but not in his current position.

    ReplyDelete
  17. "What we have here is perfect teaching opportunity..."

    - What Is

    This is what you said South Asia would be, in the sense that the Admin would use it as an object lesson in our weakness, prior to the wholesale abandonment of the GWOT.

    I see this contention less and less around the net - even at Belmont, where the relative lack of commentary on either Iraq or AfPak is telling in any number of ways.

    Ditto in other circles the very short-lived uproar following the Dubai hit.

    ReplyDelete
  18. In a previous thread, Rat gave the Obamamama credit for successes in Afpakistan. I have no problem with that. I'm willing to give the man credit for any successes that occur there just as I give Bush credit for finally getting around to the surge in Iraq.

    However, what I would like to give him credit for was for keeping a low profile. Unfortunately, that is unlikely. He went on TV this morning to talk about healthcare again. The market immedediatly went from positive to negative. Whenever he (or one of his sock puppets from Treasury) goes on TV, it immediately translates into a 20 to 50 point drop in the Dow.


    .

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  19. "In a previous thread, Rat gave the Obamamama credit for successes in Afpakistan."

    But as What Is (correctly) pointed out, what Rat truly thinks about that or any other campaign is actually unknown.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Deuce,

    There has to be some terrible mistake: Islam is the religion of peace. Two presidents cannot be wrong!

    The incurious had better sit up and take notice; something wicked this way comes.

    ReplyDelete
  21. And in fairness Obama has profited from and expanded upon programs sent underway at considerable risk by the previous admin.

    They didn't start de novo.

    ReplyDelete
  22. A conundrum for Icelanders.

    In short, during the bubble, an Icelandic internet bank was offering very high interest rates to people from Britian and the Netherlands. Britain guaranteed the loans. When things went south, the bank went bust, and now Britain and the Netherlands want their money back from Iceland.

    The dollars, $5.3 billion, seem insignificant to us; but they amount to $135 per person per month for each Icelander for the next 8 years, about 1/4 of the income for an average family of four.

    What would you do. Iceland is negotiating; but Britian and the Netherlands have threatened to hold up Iceland's application for entrance into the EU if they don't pay up.

    Iceland Votes No

    Out of principle, I think I'd vote no also. Why should the population of a country be held hostage to the irresponsibility of some business yahoos, the effects of which we have seen here in the US on a much larger scale.



    .

    ReplyDelete
  23. "And in fairness Obama has profited from and expanded upon programs sent underway at considerable risk by the previous admin."

    A bit petty Trish.

    You take the cards your dealt and you play with them. If you're taking the flak you might as well accept the kudos.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  24. Are the moonbats taking over in Japan under Hatayomo?


    Japanese Politician Espouses 9/11 Conspiracy Theory


    .

    ReplyDelete
  25. "A bit petty Trish."

    Really?

    The operational overlap between the two Admins is considerable.

    And the former deserves credit for moving the ball forward in critical areas at a time when skepticism was running extremely high.

    Not just or even primarily wrt the surge, either. The Bush admin painfully, miserably reached a point where, as my dad put it, doing *something* - not quite but almost *anything* other than what was being done up to that point - and waiting for the shake-out was the best that one could do.

    That it did.

    ReplyDelete
  26. It was noted back in the Dark Days that possibly the only person who could successfully advance so dolorous a war...turned out to be our current and quite talented SecState.

    Ironies abound.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I understand you speak foreign languages Trish.


    "Not just or even primarily wrt the surge, either. The Bush admin painfully, miserably reached a point where, as my dad put it, doing *something* - not quite but almost *anything* other than what was being done up to that point - and waiting for the shake-out was the best that one could do."

    Come back with a little English and I might have time to deal with it. I'm multi-tasking at the moment and don't have time to parse and decipher this stuff. Much too much work.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  28. "Come back with a little English and I might have time to deal with it."

    Sorry. It's the best I can do.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm sorry too.

    But as in the case of your lack of respect and courtesy for your audiance in refusing to add a few keystrokes in order to make it easier for them to pull up your posted songs and articles, it merely encourages me to use the scroll key.


    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
  30. The President's HC jihad took an ominus twist today when the President self-destructed in his attacks on "Big Insurance" and the "Republicans".

    Detonation occurred with the words "profit before people". Of course, the Bush administration was also faulted, but that's not really news any longer.

    Prior to the President's "speech", a Dem from NY accused the adimistration of forcing his resignation to prevent his casting the decisive, HC killing "Nay".

    Is the President planning on running as a third party candidate in 2012? I ask because, at the present rate of burn, he will have few allies. Could Bayh have foreseen this and placed himself in the position of outsider in the year 2012?

    ReplyDelete
  31. "But as in the case of your lack of respect and courtesy for your audiance..."

    All I can do is raise an eyebrow, Quirk.

    Scroll, scroll, scroll.

    ReplyDelete
  32. trish,

    I understood you perfectly. Then, what do I know? O, yes, although probably unintentional, the previous administration managed to move forward a somewhat murky agenda.

    The weather is almost perfect here in Atlanta. A week from now, as I float on the Caribbean, I expect absolute perfection. Feel free to grimace and snarl :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. No brainer on the Icelandic vote. The English and Dutch who deposited their money did so to get the highest return possible on savings. It was a risk.

    I met with a couple of these Icelandic wunderkind bankers in New York, none of whom had a four handle or above on their ages. It was stunning as to their naivety with regard to real estate values in countries where they had no experience.

    They sure did have fum while it lasted.

    A friend on mine, who is Icelandic, is an econ professor. I suggested to her that Iceland convert the debt to energy bonds, convertable into the amount of btu's that could be extracted from Icelandic geothermal wells over a twenty year period.

    The energy bonds would come with free industrial lands totally tax free for the same period. Someone somewhere should need and be willing to buy those bonds.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Q: "Come back with a little English and I might have time to deal with it."

    Trish: Sorry. It's the best I can do.

    -----------

    Trish's comment is quite understandable to anyone not looking to make a cheap shot. Some are equipped for multitasking, some aren't. Those who aren't should keep their mouths shut, rather than removing all doubts as to their motives and methods.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "Feel free to grimace and snarl"

    I shall. Quite liberally. Thank you very much. Allen.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Geothermal bonds in Iceland. What an interesting idea.

    I wish I knew more about geothermal. It's hard to seuss out the truth, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Iceland uses geothermal to make electricity,thus they have a decent aluminum industry. Lots of electricity and you could create massive digital storage facilities, along with natural cooling as well.

    Develop algae that could be converted to oil and use warm sea water as stock, well Iceland has that as well.

    Iceland has three hundred thousand smart well educated independent people.

    It is an amazing country, big wild and unsettled, about the size of Kentucky with only 7% of the population. Go there in June or July.

    ReplyDelete
  38. "I suggested to her that Iceland convert the debt to energy bonds, convertable into the amount of btu's that could be extracted from Icelandic geothermal wells over a twenty year period."

    What I don't understand from the story is if these were bonds, wasn't all the risk assumed by the bond holders?

    Why is the Icelandic government being held responsible for the debt? Did they back the debt initially or, like the US with AIG, commit to pay off the debt with taxpayer money after the fact?


    .

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  39. The banks wera all nationalized. It is a case of where the shock of the new wore off and the entire country did a WTF.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I don't blame Icelanders.

    I'll be pretty pissed off when the tax bill comes due for our bailouts and stimulus here in the good 'ol USA.

    I wonder if we're just futilely trying to plug holes in the dike with our fingers.

    A lot of people are going to say "to hell with it."

    ReplyDelete
  41. Can we just hit the "reset" button?

    ReplyDelete
  42. The bail outs are almost all paid back. It looks like even AIG is going to get, at least, most of it taken care of.

    Chevy, and Chrysler? Might take a little longer (Chrysler, maybe like, when hell freezes over.) :)

    ReplyDelete
  43. We did, whit, just hit the "reset" button.

    And there is little, nay no, desire to return to the administration of the government over to the last crew.

    Worse, in regards to the Treasury, we have not changed a thing, the folk through the revolving door with Goldman Sucks still reign supreme, there.

    The permanent government immune to election swings.

    I still understand the thrusts and parries of trish's repartee.

    While I can speak English and some Spanish, with no great mastery of either.

    ReplyDelete
  44. So, this gal has about a dozen court orders not to be driving this car; so she's driving along "Shaving her twat" with her ex-husband in the passenger seat, and has a wreck, and Of course, they were on their way to meet her new Boyfriend, and, oh hell, go read it

    Only in the Keys

    ReplyDelete
  45. A History Lesson

    For those that don't know about history... here is a condensed version: Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

    The two most important events in all of history were the invention of
    beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

    1. Liberals, and

    2. Conservatives

    Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

    Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

    Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the
    Liberal movement.

    Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. Those became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

    Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

    Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their
    beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.


    Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

    Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, engineers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

    Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

    Here ends today's lesson in world history.

    ReplyDelete
  46. "The issuance of these general licenses will make it easier for individuals in Iran, Sudan and Cuba to use the internet to communicate with each other, and with the outside world," deputy Treasury secretary Neal Wolin said. "[Yesterday's] actions will enable Iranian, Sudanese and Cuban citizens to exercise their most basic rights.

    As recent events in Iran have shown, personal internet-based communications like email, instant messaging and social networking are powerful tools. This software will foster and support the free flow of information - a basic human right - for all Iranians."

    Most US trade with Iran and Cuba is barred under US sanctions. Congress is considering banning government contracts with foreign companies that sell technology which the Iranian regime can use to suppress or monitor citizens' internet use, after it was revealed Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone company, and Siemens, the Germany technology giant, had sold such technology to Tehran in 2008.


    Cuba/Iran/Sudan

    ReplyDelete
  47. Sam said:

    "Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men."

    Great stuff!

    Sam, I am slightly surprised that you did not use south Germany as a prime example...just sayin'.

    It could be pointed out that many European liberals also exhibit a complete disregard for personal hygiene, the use of deodorant and suffer poor dentition (guess those razzle-dazzle HC systems are a little behind there, but solar-powered, robotic dentures will make all the difference).

    ReplyDelete
  48. Abbas never responded to Olmert's offer, but the Palestinians insisted that the negotiations resume from where they stopped during Olmert's term as prime minister.

    The U.S. apparently accepted Israel's position on the matter, which was to ignore everything that was not signed as part of an agreement.

    The talks will also be based on the Obama administration's two statements from the past year: President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations, which described the goal of a secure, Jewish state in Israel alongside a viable, independent Palestine and an end to the 1967 occupation; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement regarding a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with territory exchanges, combined with Israel's desire for a secure Jewish state that includes "recent developments," meaning the settlement blocs.


    Accord Non-binding

    ReplyDelete
  49. Kevin Rudd said later he was not satisfied with the answers given by the ambassador.

    While Israel has said there is no proof that the assassination was carried out by its intelligence agency, Mossad, Dubai police say they are “99 per cent sure” that it was a Mossad operation.

    Dubai police claim that most of the real agents involved in the operation are now in Israel.


    Hamas Assassination

    ReplyDelete
  50. did the girls head for the hills?

    ReplyDelete
  51. "By reoccupying the existing GPS stations, CAP can determine the displacements, or 'jumps,' that occurred during the earthquake," said Mike Bevis, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University.

    ...

    The results show the Chilean city of Concepcion shifted 3 meters (10 feet) to the west. Chile's capital Santiago was displaced about 27.7 centimeters (11 inches) to the west-southwest.

    And Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, moved about 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) to the west. And significant displacements were recorded as far away as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza.


    Moved City 3 Meters

    ReplyDelete
  52. “Our citizens lost their lives in five villages,” Muammer Erol, the town’s governor, told NTV, a private news broadcaster.

    There were no people still trapped under debris by Monday night, after rescue operations that lasted for hours, Mr. Erol’s office later announced. Emergency officials put the number of injured at 34.

    “The important thing is to train local construction workers on methods to build earthquake-resistant buildings without giving up locally available construction materials,” Miktad Kadioglu, professor of meteorology and head of the crisis management center at Istanbul Technical University, told NTV.


    Eastern Turkey

    ReplyDelete
  53. Three Palestinians have also reportedly been arrested in connection with the investigation.

    "According to the Dubai police investigation, the first team consisted of a smaller core group alleged to have carried out the killing," Interpol said, referring to the 11 named last month.

    The second "is believed to have aided and abetted the first team by closely watching, following and reporting Mabhuh's movements from the moment he landed at Dubai airport until his murder," the agency said.


    Dubai Assassination

    ReplyDelete
  54. "The rare spirits that went under the gavel at a recent online auction in New Zealand weren't aged brandies or hard-to-find liqueurs.

    Instead, two glass vials purportedly containing the ghosts of two dead people sold for $2,830 New Zealand dollars ($1,983) at an auction that ended Monday night."


    Women Sells Souls To Highest Bidder

    I realize this blog is not meant for commercial purposes; however, using the same techniques as the New Zealand woman, I have accummulated a small collection of souls in empty Snapple bottles.

    For anyone looking to purchase one we could probably work through a deal outside the EB.



    .


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  55. They said villages had been attacked by men with machetes who came from nearby hills.

    ...

    Over the weekend I heard people saying that there were conflicts in some villages in the Zot and Dogo-Nahawa areas in the southern parts of Plateau state.

    ...

    The Hausa Fulani people entered the Dogo-Nahawa village and they killed women and children with machetes and shot them with guns.


    Eyewitness Stories

    ReplyDelete
  56. Sam, let me express my gratitude, again, for your many "High Quality" Posts.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Oh, and Q, I think we could make an exception in this case. I think the EB should definitely rally around the "souls for sale" business.

    "Souls" are extremely important, and many of us are "deficient" to say the least.

    Any good blog should have a theme; and Naked Ski Bunnies (and female race car drivers,) along with promotion of easily accessible Souls would seem to be naturals for the Bar.

    It's up to Deuce, and Whit, of course, but you have My support, wholehearedly.

    ReplyDelete
  58. "I still understand the thrusts and parries of trish's repartee."

    Really, Rat.

    Maybe you can help me out by explaining them to me.

    I complained about Trish's English but I didn't say I didn't understand her words. Effective language involves not only words but also syntax and context. With regard to the words in question, they were fairly simple. Even I could understand them. I think.

    With regard to syntax, I assume that someone who takes a fellow blogger to task for an ill-used comma is not going to object if I object to an excess of punctuation sans periods which makes the passage harder to follow than necessary.

    However, my real objection was based on context and it’s here I'm asking you to help me out. As you recall, the issue at hand was my comment that I'm willing to give Obama credit for any successes we achieve in Afpakistan under his watch and Trish’s argument that any success attributed to Obama has to be discounted because of all the great things the previous administration put in place there.

    If I understand her argument correctly, we should give the Bush administration credit for having an army in place when Obama became president. When I objected, that I thought that a bit petty, I was given this

    "The operational overlap between the two Admins is considerable.”

    Yea, well I assume that was because Obama didn’t have a spare army to move in with him.

    And,

    ”And the former deserves credit for moving the ball forward in critical areas at a time when skepticism was running extremely high.”

    The moving the ball forward comment is a bit vague but I can’t really argue with it. It’s hard to tear someone down for actually doing their job. Although as I recall things were going pretty shitty at the time of the transition.

    And, finally

    ”Not just or even primarily wrt the surge, either. The Bush admin painfully, miserably reached a point where, as my dad put it, doing *something* - not quite but almost *anything* other than what was being done up to that point - and waiting for the shake-out was the best that one could do."

    This is the point at which I objected to the post and it’s the point at which I am now asking your help with the context.

    1. What exactly does it mean, again within the context of the matter at hand as I laid it out above?
    2. Please explain the *something* and *anything* references. Also, let me know how much credit someone gets for trying something, anything different and then letting the chips fall where they may.
    3. Please tell me how this, whatever it is, affects the Afghanistan war more than a year later.
    4. And finally, why should I discount Obama’s performance based on this?

    Since a number have posted here that they understand exactly what Trish was saying, this is probably my fault. I’m a simple guy who admittedly lacks patience. If I’ve missed something obvious I apologize. Trish is a great girl with a nice sense of humor and brings a lot of knowledge to her posts; however, at times she is a bit of a mystery to me.


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