What made you go WTF today?

[wiggin]

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/da...uffelblog1.jpg

http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/10/gu...bill-benefits/

Someone on McConnell's staff needs to get fired...

[GGT]

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/da...uffelblog1.jpg

http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/10/gu...bill-benefits/

Someone on McConnell's staff needs to get fired...

Absolutely. Ditto for Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, or any elected official who relies on Breitbart.com for their "information".

[Khendraja'aro]

But it is written on the internet so it must be true!

Next you're telling me that The Onion isn't a real news site!

[Spenni]

Because my promotion has been delayed for about 8 months I'm getting promoted twice in one next week O_O;

[Veldan Rath]

Congrats Brigadier?

[Spenni]

Na just back to PFC :P

[GGT]

So WTF is going on in the Vatican and the rumors surrounding the Pope's resignation, bribery and homosexual coverups? Jesus fucking Christ....I mean...uh, yeah.

[Hazir]

So WTF is going on in the Vatican and the rumors surrounding the Pope's resignation, bribery and homosexual coverups? Jesus fucking Christ....I mean...uh, yeah.

I think we can pretty much rely on nothing much going on. Just like how in Holland we've got this class of people who seem to have found a fervor for royal etiquette despite their republicanism, you've got heaps and heaps of people who aren't Catholics telling the Catholic church what it should be. Most of the time based on wrong ideas.

Like the one that Benedict chased nuns out of their humble abode so he could have a place to retire. Supposedly that gave the wrong message to women. The real wrong message was the 'news' itself since the nunnery was empty already.

In Holland republicans are obsessing over the question whether or not the wife of the future king should be addresssed as 'queen' or 'princess'. Supposedly because the law obliges to call her 'princess'. Truth of the matter of course is that the law names her as one of the people eligible for the title of 'Princess of The Netherlands' not precluding any other honorific like the entirely acceptable and widely used 'queen'.

[Timbuk2]

Pfff ... silly primitive outdated institution, run by silly primitive outdated people.

[wiggin]

Hazir, I think it's silly to suggest he 'sent the wrong message to women' from the whole monastery thing. But it's not even remotely unreasonable to suggest that Benedict has been planning this for a while, which was the motivation behind relocating the nuns and renovating the place. It doesn't really bother me, though.

[Hazir]

Hazir, I think it's silly to suggest he 'sent the wrong message to women' from the whole monastery thing. But it's not even remotely unreasonable to suggest that Benedict has been planning this for a while, which was the motivation behind relocating the nuns and renovating the place. It doesn't really bother me, though.

I doubt that some random PR guy in the US has been following the Papacy so closely that they picked up on that in combination with the announced resignation.

As it happened the building was vacated by the nuns, because it was used in rotation by different orders. While it was empty its designation was changed.

[GGT]

The whole papacy thing is.....WTF. So, the Pope isn't infallible. And the papacy is more political than religious.

I've never really understood the Roman Catholic Church, its hierarchy or politics. I've also never understood why some one billion people consider themselves part of the church, when over half disagree with its doctrine on birth control, priesthood, divorce, or sexual orientation.

[Loki]

The pope is only infallible when it comes to making certain kinds of statements, which popes make very infrequently.

[GGT]

Oh. Well, if the Pope isn't Divine.....why do so many Roman Catholics continue with the charade?

[Loki]

I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about. The pope isn't meant to be divine. He's divinely-inspired, and the infallibility only applies to "ex cathedra" statements, which I believe were only made twice in the last century and a half. I fail to see where the charade is.

[GGT]

"Divinely inspired" is how many Roman Catholics think the papacy is Divine, and the Pope is the literal hand of God leading the church.

I'm not claiming to be an expert on Catholicism, let alone a theologian. But I do know plenty of Vatican II Catholics who don't follow papal doctrine, but would still kiss the Pope's ring. Even if they've been divorced, used birth control, had abortions or extra-marital affairs, or are homosexual.

[Loki]

And plenty of people support Obama despite not agreeing with parts of his platform. Who knew that life isn't black and white.

[GGT]

And plenty of people support Obama despite not agreeing with parts of his platform. Who knew that life isn't black and white.

What's Obama got to do with Catholicism and the Pope?

[Veldan Rath]

What's Obama got to do with Catholicism and the Pope?

<facepalm>

[GGT]

Re-write: religion may be political, but it's not the same as government politics.

[Veldan Rath]

Yet the comparison is still valid.
The President is adored by many, but even some supporters don't love him on everything (and may strongly not like some policies), and those would STILL visit the White House if called, and still show him respect and adoration. (Clinton was better at it)

Leader of a Religion with over a BILLION followers, has many that don't care too much, but they would still go gaga if the dude showed up in the Pope Mobile at their house.

[GGT]

Yet the comparison is still valid.
The President is adored by many, but even some supporters don't love him on everything (and may strongly not like some policies), and those would STILL visit the White House if called, and still show him respect and adoration. (Clinton was better at it)

Leader of a Religion with over a BILLION followers, has many that don't care too much, but they would still go gaga if the dude showed up in the Pope Mobile at their house.

I get that, naming Obama just didn't make sense to me. Comparing the papacy to the office of presidency, or vatican to White House, sure. Flixy, I do wonder why so many still identify as Roman Catholic when they don't agree with its doctrine.

[Flixy]

I'd be pretty damn respectful to the pope if he showed up at my house, and I'm an atheist.

GGT, about people with divorces and abortions and extramarital affairs, you would be better off asking why they are catholics in the first place. And Lokis response is still valid for that, too.

[Hazir]

You'd have to be a real jerk not to show any respect to the leader of what is both the oldest and largest organization in the history of mankind.

Which reminds me of the people who with near autistic tenacity keep telling everybody all the time that Benedictus XVI is no good because he didn' t start his day spreading ashes on his head, tearing his clothes and making a public announcement that the Church was an evil place where little boys are molested.

Given the circumstances and the duration of his papacy I think he did a decent enough job. I don't need to agree with his conservative, or christian, worldview to acknowledge that.

[GGT]

Another WTF, we had a mid-Atlantic snowstorm that cancelled schools and closed roads. The day before it was warm and Springy, I was walking around in short sleeves and no jacket, and baby birds were chirping! I hope these freeze/thaw/freeze temps don't confuse my rhododendron buds too much.

[Hazir]

We're having that kind of weather in Istanbul too. The weather jumps and bounds from 'almost summer' to 'back to winter and was that snow I just saw?'. Hear pretty much the same about the weather in Holland.

[Timbuk2]

French mother Bouchra Bagour on trial for 9/11 T-shirt

A mother has gone on trial in southern France for sending her son to nursery school wearing a T-shirt reading "I am a bomb" and "Born on 11 September".

Bouchra Bagour, 35, was reported to police by the teacher last September, and charged with "glorifying crime".

At the start of her trial in Avignon, she denied defending terrorism.

Ms Bagour's brother - who gave the T-shirt to her three-year-old son named Jihad - is a co-defendant in the case and also denies the charge.

The garment, which the boy wore to school in Sorgues near Avignon on 24 September, read "I am a bomb" on the front and "Jihad, born on 11 September" on the back.

On Wednesday Ms Bagour told the court she had put it on him "without stopping to think about it".

She insisted it was not meant as a provocation and stressed that her son had been born on 11 September.

Zeyad Bagour said he had never sought to defend any cause by buying the T-shirt.

"It's the day his birth I wanted to highlight, not the year," he told the court.

The prosecution argued that the defendants had shown no regret.

"Who can claim that this is not an direct and scandalous allusion to terrorism?" a prosecutor asked.

He called for a fine of 1,000 euros (£870; $1,300) against Ms Bagour and 3,000 euros for her brother.

The trial has been adjourned until next month.

Silly bint.

And calling your kid 'Jihad', yes that's a good idea.

[Hazir]

Actually, the name Jihad is hardly one I'd say is controversial. It doesn't automatically mean war or even conflict with other people. C'est la bombe is a French expression equivalent to 'he is so cool'. And a date is just a date. Still, the combination makes you wonder. It could be a crass provocation, a smart provocation, or no provocation at all but just one of those supposedly funny but always tacky t-shirts.

[Ominous Gamer]

bomb is slang for awesome. can't tell if its a bad translation, or if the french have a similar phrase.

this link says its a play off of Je suis la bombe, which is a positive saying.

[Khendraja'aro]

So, the XBMC on Raspberry Pi is running without hickups and I'm in the process of ripping my DVDs/Blurays to a NAS. I've got a bit of a collection, several Disney movies, the Marvel stuff, Bourne but also movies like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Inception, the Bourne movies, Dracula (the Coppola version) or Pan's Labyrinth.

So, what did my mother ask for when I presented her the choices available?

Twilight.

I may now have to commit seppuku.