Today, we’re going to try to find out the answer to that question.
Now you might be thinking “Gordon, you clarion bugle of the downtrodden, isn’t that ****ed up beyond all reason? That sounds like a math problem from a demonic algebra class.”
Yes, readers- yes it is. Nearly 350 people have been arrested on “suspicion” of involvement in the disappearance of these three boys.
350.
Not counting the dead. Continue reading
Posted in crime, media, morality, news, politics, race, religion
Tagged 340, Arab, bigotry, dead, Eyal Yifrach, Gaza, Gilad Shaar, Hebron, israel, Israeli government, Jordan Davis, kidnapping, Merchant of Venice, Michael Dunn, missing, Naftali Fraenkel, palestine, palestinian, Palestinians, racism, Ramallah, shot, teen, terror, West Bank
This is the final panel of one of my favorite Calvin & Hobbes strips, though as you can see it works just fine on its own as well. Ignorance is an issue. It always has been, and it probably always will be. The issue is that today it seems that misunderstandings about the nature of tolerance and free speech, as well as the prevalence of Postmodernism, have really given it a haven the likes of which hasn’t existed before. But we’re not here to dissect just where ignorance is coming from in modern culture, we’re here to talk about some of the absolutely dangerous myths that it’s producing and why they are just plan wrong.
I. “Vaccines Cause Autism”
Chances are pretty high that you’re already familiar with this one, and while most folks are fully aware of just how untrue this myth is, it remains nevertheless one of the most dangerous ones out there today. I’m not just talking about the preventable deaths of thousands of people (which is justification, of course, in and of itself) but about the potential damage it can cause. You’re not just exposing yourself to infection, you’re allowing yourself to serve as a potential carrier to infect others.
And of course, this is exactly what’s happening now.
See NPR’s article on the subject here.
Look, I could spend all day rehashing article after article after scientific study demonstrating that no, vaccines do not cause autism, and no, the substances which make up most vaccines are more prevalent in plenty of other substances- but let us, just for a moment, entertain this superstition as being real.
So what if vaccines can cause autism (which they don’t)? Continue reading
Posted in America, bizarreness, health, morality, news, politics, science
Tagged austism, coal, compromise, Darwin, disease, drilling, dumb, fracking, ignorance, Iran, israel, mining, moderate, moderation, myth, myths, nuclear, nuke, nukes, plague, polio, postmodernism, power, recant, smallpox, stupid, TB, truth, vaccines, weapons
I grew up in Syria.
I was born in the US, but the vast majority of my life was spent in the Middle East. In spite of the civil war that’s been raging in my adopted homeland for the past couple of years, I’ve remained largely silent on the issue here on the blog. More than anything else, I’ve done so because I know that there’s really no happy ending to anything I can say. For all my raging and foaming at the mouth, I really and truly don’t enjoy having to lambaste things- more than anytime else when there’s really and truly no light I can see at the end of the tunnel. Nevertheless, with American warships closing in on the Syrian coast and a mountain of evidence growing for the regime having unleashed a chemical attack on its own people, there’s really no keeping quiet at this point.
So here it goes.
I. There Is No Free Syrian Army
If you’ve been watching the situation or if you listen to the news, you may hear the term “Free Syrian Army” or “FSA” thrown around. While initially formed out of deserting Syrian soldiers and officers in the early stages of the conflict, there never really was- and still isn’t- any kind of centralized command. There’s a myriad of different militias and cells in Syria all operating under the banner of the FSA, but there’s really no connection between any of them, militarily, ideologically, or demographically. There’s also no connection, as is otherwise sometimes portrayed, between the self-declared opposition government operating out of Turkey and the FSA- they’re two completely different groups. It’s important to understand this to keep from being led into the false assumption that there’s only two sides to the conflict- the dictatorial regime and the pro-democracy rebels. There’s going to be a temptation to grossly oversimplify the situation- don’t let it happen more than it already has.
Posted in America, Islam, media, money, morality, news, politics
Tagged aid, Arms, Assad, Camp, Camps, Civil War, conflict, democracy, Free Syrian Army, FSA, Hezbollah, Humanitarian Aid, Iran, Islamic, israel, Military Intervetion, Pro-West, rebels, Refugee, Syria, Syrians, Tent, US, weapons, west, Winter
EVAN: Ladies and gentlemen, it brings me the greatest sort of joy to announce that we will be announcing a third Culture War Reporter to our blog. Ever since Elisa’s departure I have long wished to have a female perspective, and after a little bit of searching I was connected to Kat via one of my many, many cousins-
This edition of E> will consist of both Gordon and me asking Kat ten questions apiece, to present to all of you nice people a greater picture of who she is. At the end she’ll have the opportunity to ask each of us five questions, just to be fair.
You can of course find out more about her by reading her bio. Now, without further ado, I’m going to let Gordon start us off-
GORDON: You’re in a desert, walking along in the sand when all of a sudden you look down and you see a tortoise, Kat. You reach down and flip the tortoise over on it’s back, Kat. The tortoise lays on its back, it’s belly baking in the hot sun, beating it’s legs, trying to turn itself over but it can’t. Not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that, Kat?
KAT: Because I’m hungry and I plan to eat it?
GORDON: Well, we’ve determined she’s not a replicant. That’s progress, at least.
EVAN: Gordon, you are a huge nerd. Continue reading
Posted in blog news, comics, Evan and Gordon Talk, feminism, interview, literature, money, music, sex
Tagged answers, BMW, communist party, Culture War Reporter, CWR, Evan and Gordon Talk, favorite, favourite, Feminist, interview, israel, Kat, Kat Goertz, nazi, new writer, Occupied Palestine, questions, welcome
Newer readers may not know this, but this is actually the third post about World War Z on this blog. I first wrote about the way the film was to deviate from the book back in 2011, while former CWR writer [who I dearly miss] Elisa briefly explored their prevalence in pop culture the year after.
So two days ago I saw the movie, and I’m not going to write the logical continuation of my first post, complaining about how the movie could have been “so much better if only. . .”
What I’m going to write about how I wasn’t in the movie.
I drew this over two years ago for an all-comics weekly publication I used to run.
And no, I don’t mean why wasn’t there a zombified version of me in the movie, because seriously if you guys didn’t know I am deathly terrified of any sort of biting reanimated corpse. What I mean is why, when I watched this movie, weren’t there any dang Asians.
Spoilers follow. Kind mild, kinda not. Continue reading
Posted in Asia, film, literature, race, writing, zombies
Tagged asian, book, Brad Pitt, China, Elys Gabel, film, Indian, Iron Man 3, israel, Jerusalem, Korean, movie, Plan B Entertainment, race, representation, Russia, Song Xuan Ke, South Korea, wales, white, World War Z, zombies
First off, CISPA, passed by Congress last Friday, is headed to the floor of the Senate. If you haven’t already, get in contact with your senators and send them this message:
Now back to business.
I’ve been meaning to take a crack at this issue for a while. In fact, I’ve even tried a few times to actually write a post on it- I just couldn’t quite find the words to illustrate the problem succinctly.
Then, earlier today, I came across this image [click to open up larger in a new window]:
Posted in America, morality, news, race
Tagged Adventure Time, Africa, africa will always be poor, amaerica, Arab, Arabs, bigotry, CISPA, civil rights, conflict, developing world, drought, famine, GIF, global south, israel, israeli, Middle Eastern, middle-east, millions die no one cries, native americans, one dies millions cry, palestine, palestinian, politics, poverty, racism, rudyard kipling, segregation, Senate, shame, the middle east will always be violent, the white man's burden, third world, Violence, war, you don't eat pork i don't eat pork let's not eat pork together
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Culture War Reporters 