Religion wank
On the Amazon review board for Ayaan Hirsi Ali's autobiography, Prince of Carthage has this to say:

Bashing Islam is the Best Selling Plat du Jour

It never stops amazing me how in the greatest country on earth where we're leading the world in the fields of academia, technology, economy, innovation, arts, etc. some mediocre (and that's an overstatement) books and authors manage to become instant bestsellers... the formula is obviously clear... Bash Islam and Muslims, these evil people... medicore writers like hannity, o'reilly, coulter and countless more figured out the best way to make a quick buck... attack a religion and a civilization that has given so much to the world.. one that achieved the unprecedented fate of 900 years of world domination... helping to advance maths, science, arts, philosophy, medicine, etc. a religion that from the time it was revealed set itself apart from previous ones by giving women many rights that were at the time unheard of in the rest of the world (women were still treated like sub-humans in the Christian world)... a religion with a prophet who worked for his wife, a leading noble businesswoman in Mecca... it goes without saying that Muslims have mismanaged their fall from grace... some did blame women... but should this be seen as illustrative of a culture where women were religious scholars, poets, writers, etc... or should we listen to Ayaan Hirsi Ali... [...] That she felt stranger at home is ok, it happens... many teenagers go through that process... sometimes, they are right, sometimes they are wrong... but for her to jump on this Muslim bashing train is unethical... more and more Muslims will be unfairly profiled, mistreated and abused...

Ad hominem remarks, accusations of closemindedness and McCarthyism, "Your religion sucks!" arguments, and Very Special Logic ensues.

Other highlights include:

James H. Hill: Yes,Islam has given us alot. It has given us honor killing, stoning and forced marriage of women, church burning, rioting in response to a few cartoons, indiscriminate murder of innocent civilians all over then world, gross intolerance of other religions.

A. Hajric: And christianity gives us inquisitions, crusades, Pope tyranny, drugs, crime, violence, women abuse, beatings, illegitimate children, colonization, gangs, prostitution, AIDS, sexual abuse, transgenders, alcoholism, slavery and adultery. Peace!

and

All the fuss over female circumcision shows just how random the whole debate is. Of course it is a horrible practice, but the world is full of horrors and injustices that require urgent attention, so why are we so keen to single out this particular, pretty farfetched one, that seems limited mainly to one tribal culture in one African country? How about the routine genital mutilation of jewish boys?

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Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

sheep
2007-05-04 08:05 pm UTC (link)

Well, as some one who used to register over 40 people a day for private hospital treatment in the UK, he is not far off the mark by saying that many people from the Middle East don't know their exact birthdays. Either that, or they are very good at birthing children on the 1st of the 1st of any given year, or the first of any other month to a lesser extent ;)

What this has to do with anything I'm not sure *hasn't read the wank yet*

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Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

alya1989262
2007-05-04 08:09 pm UTC (link)

Okay, I'll give him that some people in rural areas here don't know their exact birthdays, but it is pretty rare. We do have such things as birth certificates... We even have ID cards once we're 16, and can vote at 18. I don't know how the government would manage elections if nobody knew their birthdate exactly...

Although it could be argued that our elections are forged anyways, so the government doesn't care. >.>

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Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

alya1989262
2007-05-04 08:14 pm UTC (link)

(I'd just like to point out that I understand you may have encountered some Middle-Esterners who don't know their exact birthdates, or they're forged or something, but this by no means represents "most people".

On the other hand, my grandfather was born in rural Egypt 72 years ago and he's got a birth certificate with an incorrect birthdate, because he wasn't born away from his father's village and thus wasn't registered until he went there.

Sorry if I sounded patronising; it just ticks me off that people still think of the Middle East as Middle-Ages-Europe, and "Oh, do you go to school on a camel?!")

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! alya1989262 2007-05-04 08:16 pm UTC (link)
	because he WAS born facepalm* (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

sheep
2007-05-04 09:03 pm UTC (link)

Oh, I wouldn't think the Middle East as the Middle Ages just because some countries/areas there may not place the same importance on birth dates as we do. I mean, come on!

After you typed middle ages, I kept typing that instead of Middle East/ern*

Please don't confuse me like that DDDDDD:

()I originally had a very long comment with numbers an' stuff, and then thought that most people probably don't care and deleted it.)

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! sheep 2007-05-04 09:04 pm UTC (link)
	the first ) = * (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! silrana 2007-05-04 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	That sort of thing happens all over. I grew up in Kentucky, and when a friend of my mom's interviewed for a job in New York City, they asked her if wearing shoes on a regular basis would be a problem for her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! hallidae 2007-05-04 10:25 pm UTC (link)
	That sort of thing still makes me twitch, although I am proud of myself that I don't automatically switch to the "Fuck you and die in hell," glare when someone starts talking noticibly sulooooweeeerrrr and mooore enuuunciaaaaateeeed after they hear my accent. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-04 11:17 pm UTC (link)
	O.o? REALLY? I'm so sorry. Because I am such a sucker for sexy voices, I usually make excuses to talk more... "So... I've just assigned you this room in the hotel... Are you going to be alone there all night? Because, I get off work at 11:30...." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

hallidae
2007-05-04 11:24 pm UTC (link)

It's one of those things that's kinda impossible to win. If they're tourists or shopkeepers from out of the area, they think my drawl is adorable and want me to keep saying stereotypical Southern things just so they can point and giggle. If they're potential employers or anyone of "high education," ( ::eyeroll:: ) my accent makes me sound like a drooling moron no matter how otherwise well-spoken I am.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-04 11:36 pm UTC (link)
	Oh lord. I'm really sorry that happens, sincerely. It's not something I had even considered. There is such a hierarchy of accents in North Am. I'm sure there is elsewhere, too, but I'm more aware of it back home. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

icedark_elf
2007-05-05 02:57 am UTC (link)

*lucked out*

I have a bit of a southern twinge in my voice, given I'm right by Kentucky and it seems to have infected my otherwise very Midwestern/flat accent voice.

Usually when I say six or nine. All in the "i" sounds.

My mom, who was born and raised in northern Indiana, snickers at me once in a while.

It only gets worse after I visit my grandparents, in Biloxi Beach, MS.

But, yeah, there is a lot of people who look down on certain accents in the US.

*hates shoes with a passion and will regularly walk around without them* Hah! Giving in to the stereotype. Go me.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 03:07 am UTC (link)
	I have discovered that a lot of people in Aus don't bother with shoes when they're not at work - or even some when they are at work. My friends regularly wander around without footwear. It's... so strange to me.... But then, I'm used to more snow. And by "more" I mean "any". (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

icedark_elf
2007-05-05 03:36 am UTC (link)

I just really hate shoes. I've walked around campus carrying my sandals around, and will go out to check the mail barefooted, no matter what season. And it's fun to walk around in three foot of snow without shoes. Wet, too.

I'll wear socks around the house, but if I'm in a situation where it might make my socks icky, I'm just as likely to take them off and go out barefoot as to find shoes.

Course, I pay for it with a lot of scar tissue in my feet. Comes from walking on gravel and blacktop and picking up nails and glass in my feet. Doesn't happen often enough to stop me, but it does happen on occasion.

It's strange, cause none of the rest of my family is like that.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 03:39 am UTC (link)
	I had a boyfriend like that - he joked that he should have had his feet copywritten or something before the LotR movies came out because his feet are very hobbit-like and... Didn't this conversation start out about Muslims? I love JF. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 05:55 am UTC (link)
	When I dressed up as a hobbit during the LotR movie period, I'd just put hair prosthetics on my feet, cause my feet are so big and unweildy that they look like hobbit feet anyway. I like shoes cause they hide that shit. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! icedark_elf 2007-05-05 04:23 pm UTC (link)
	It's like those cafeteria talks you would have in high school. Start on strange things you find in food, and end up discussing wedding dresses. You have no idea how you managed the transitions, but it's always funny to look back on. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 05:53 am UTC (link)
	Aus - as in Austin or Australia? Cause I was thinking, "Wow, now that you mention it, when I was at college I'd often take off my shoes in the rehearsal building cause I like singing bare foot..." And then I realised this was a discussion about America. LOL! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! notjo 2007-05-05 06:23 am UTC (link)
	Australia. I just moved here in February. It's very big, and has many many things in it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! napalmnacey 2007-05-05 06:27 am UTC (link)
	Oh. Awesome! Yeah, if people can get away with being barefoot here, they generally will go with it. I love how laid back my country is. happy love Where are you staying? Then I know what kind of awesome things you might be seeing. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! -

notjo, 2007-05-05 06:29 am UTC

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! -

napalmnacey, 2007-05-05 06:36 am UTC

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! -

notjo, 2007-05-05 06:39 am UTC

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! -

napalmnacey, 2007-05-05 06:45 am UTC

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! -

napalmnacey, 2007-05-05 06:45 am UTC

	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! rimrunner 2007-05-05 03:55 pm UTC (link)
	I don't like shoes, either, and I was born in Washington D.C. Heh. My dad lost his Louisiana accent through years of living in Maryland, but my uncle still has his. I love listening to him talk; the accent combined with his dry humor is just awesome. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

icedark_elf
2007-05-05 04:26 pm UTC (link)

Shoes are of evil. *nods* I remember in acting class once, they had just finally gotten the floors fitted with this really nice hardwood, and the teacher was all "This is a no shoes zone" and would throw a tennis ball at people if they wore their shoes in.

In one of my many classes in that room, a girl almost had crying fits, cause she hated feet, as here she was, surrounded by bared feet. Especially in the summer when everyone wore sandals.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! visp 2007-05-06 03:08 am UTC (link)
	Meh, I have an international accent, which is considered very intellectual, and I hate wearing shoes as well. Well, actually, I prefer not to wear clothes either when the temperature permits, so it just goes to show. (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better!

v_digitalwytch
2007-05-05 03:30 am UTC (link)

Quite a few techs I know still consider a rural accent as a sign of inner denseness.

Me, well, after the day I had the guy from New York who snottily let drop he had about half an alphabet after his name in degrees who couldn't figure out his password, followed by the guy from rural Kentucky where to this day I swear I heard livestock in the background who let me know in advance that he'd already powercycled his connection, ran his spyware programs, antivirus, disc cleanup and defrag, reset the winsock, checked his selective startup, and did a clean reinstall of our program and was still having trouble connecting so he figured he might as well call, I pretty much figured stupid and intelligence can happen anywhere, and most likely where you don't expect it.

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	Re: I really should practice sitting on my hands better! littlest_lurker 2007-05-04 10:33 pm UTC (link)
	Holy shit, seriously? That's fucked up. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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