So What the Hell Does this Have to do With Anything???

I received a disturbing email the other day. In it, the originator tried to insinuate Muslims had contributed virtually nothing to the world.

The proof?

The poster compared the number of Nobel Prizes won by Muslims vs. Jews; claiming Muslims had been awarded 7 to the Jew's 129. Furthermore, noting Muslims far outnumber Jews in the world, so therefore Jews are that much better due to their high concentration of prizes per capita.

Amusing. Comparing Nobels.

Doesn't surprise me though. Since the vast majority of Muslims live in impoverished countries with poor to no education, how would we expect them to have Nobels? Those countries that do have wealth have only had it since oil was discovered there in the 1950s/1960s. The Nobels listed were won mostly beginning in the 1970s, so that seems about right given the years it must take to build an education system and put out a significant number of graduates (who finally had the money to obtain their college educations in America and Europe) capable of Nobel-worthy achievements.

The Jewish people by contrast, have had the advantage of European and American education, politics, hegemony, and wealth for hundreds of years.

Of course, the Nobel Prize has only been in existence for a little over a century. This comparison ignores contributions for the centuries of human progress preceding it, including such trivial Arab contributions as algebra and astronomy. While Europe was living in the Dark Ages, cowering under a blanket of a repressive Christianity, the Arab world was flourishing in the sciences of math and the stars.

As civilizations flourish and fall throughout time, so Europe arose during the Renaissance and the Arab world eventually went into decline.

It really pisses me off to see markedly stupid people successfully brainwashing large groups of others through their biased, narrow, and simplistic arguments ignorant of all the facts being disseminated through mass emails forwarded to tens of thousands of people who read and digest this trash without question.

Sarah Palin's New Job

Today it was announced Sarah Palin would become a commentator on Fox News.

She hasn't even begun on the air and she's already made her first guffaw.

"I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News," Palin said in a statement posted on the network's Web site. "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news."

You can hear the cries of "YESSSS!!!" over at Comedy Central as writers for the Daily Show and Colbert Report wept with joy at the thought of not really having to work that hard for new material for the next few years. It may not last so long though. Like all multi-year deals Sarah has signed on for, she'll likely leave before her contract is up to do something like run for president in 2012.

It was also reported that according to the multiyear deal, Palin will offer political commentary and analysis on the cable channel, as well as Fox's Web site, radio network and business cable channel.

Analysis?

You've gotta be kidding!

#1: She doesn't read. We know that thanks to Katie Couric and her 'gotcha' questioning.

#2: Everything will be analyzed in basketball terminology a'la her resignation speech. Sounds about right. Fox viewers don't know anything but sports either. If they did, they wouldn't be there for news on politics. After all, if you want to know about politics and politicians, everyone knows (unbelievably and unfortunately, but definitely accurately) you have to watch Comedy Central, since none of the news networks actually does much (OK, any) fact checking.

Fox gets much of its viewers from people searching for the next clips Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert will tear apart later that week, so you know her ratings will soar, just like Glenn Beck's. It's fun to watch Beck make a fool of himself crying all the time. Do you suppose college kids make a game of it like they did with "Hi Bob" on the old Bob Newhart show?

No Reason to Elect GOP Politicians

On January 6th's Hardball, Chris Matthews said to Republican strategist Todd Harris: "Tell me what the Republican party has done for this country in the last ten to twenty years." (I'm assuming he was looking for a positive answer.)

Harris couldn't come up with an answer, in the end remaining silent.

Their top strategist can't come up with anything??!!! He's effectively telling the American people they have no reason to elect Republicans to office.

As responder "talkitreal" on Huff Post noted:

"If you owned a business, and the person you hired did nothing for an entire year - would you think they earned their paycheck? No! Would you keep them at their job, just so they could repeat doing nothing for another year? No!

Republicans need to be taught that when you have no policies, and you have no solutions for the problems America faces, and you spend your time in Congress doing nothing but trying to obstruct people who are trying to solve problems, then you do not deserve to keep your job. You have not earned your paycheck or its free health care, and you do not deserve another one paid for by the taxpayers!"

Doing nothing is just as bad as doing wrong...and Republicans lied us into Iraq, went wild with spending bills that exploded the deficit....so there's plenty in the negative column...

...he can't come up with anything positive???!!!

Hmmmm.....I wonder what Chris would get out of a top strategist for the Dems?