Topic: iRan (Read 9813 times)

Thad · « **Reply #80 on:** July 01, 2009, 07:39:52 PM »

...actually, letting people live vicariously through fantasy could conceivably be a GREAT way to diffuse their energy. Like all the talk about how the reason there wasn't great social upheaval during the Bush Administration like there was during the 1960's is because everybody who was pissed had a blog to bitch on.

Or, as Colbert put it, "Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know -- fiction!"

Disposable Ninja · « **Reply #81 on:** July 01, 2009, 08:09:15 PM »

Quote from: Brentai on June 25, 2009, 08:31:33 AM

Her age and occupation were correctly reported, as was the fact that the Iranian government was not allowing mourning for her of any sort

Yeah, but it was reported that she wasn't a protester, just an innocent bystander. You know, who got shot by a Government officer on a motorcycle.

Büge · « **Reply #82 on:** July 07, 2009, 12:00:25 PM »

Marjane Satrapi: I Must Go Home to Iran Again.

Mongrel · « **Reply #83 on:** September 28, 2012, 04:10:00 PM »

Might as well bring this thread back, seeing as how there's about 50/50 odds it'll see plenty of use soon.

Let's start with some fun: Onion article states American voters prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama; Iranian news service takes article seriously

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #84 on:** February 04, 2013, 08:34:54 AM »

Ahmadinejad wants to be Iran's first astronaut.

Mongrel · « **Reply #85 on:** February 04, 2013, 09:38:56 AM »

BAHAWHAWHAWHAWHAW

Thad · « **Reply #86 on:** February 04, 2013, 09:55:14 PM »

McCain: "Wasn't he just there last week?"

On the one hand, that's pretty funny.

On the other, it's probably not the kind of joke a major politician should be making in public.

TA · « **Reply #87 on:** February 05, 2013, 09:52:33 AM »

I dunno that "haha, Iranians are monkeys" is particularly funny.

Classic · « **Reply #88 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:19:10 AM »

I just read the actual joke, and that's pretty racist Thad.

TA · « **Reply #89 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:43:40 AM »

I mean, I'm not one to say that a joke can't be funny even though it's viciously racist, but - disgusting racism aside - that's just not a good joke. The entire joke is that Iranians are monkeys. That's it. There's no comedy in that, that's Larry the Cable Guy farting into the microphone.

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #90 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:50:03 AM »

It's possible he was just implying that Ahmadinejad looks like a monkey, not that all Iranians are monkeys.

HOWEVER, the term "monkey" does have a pretty long and specific history of being used as a racial slur, so even if there was no racist intent, a sitting US Senator should have thought a little bit harder before using it in a joke like that.

Mazian · « **Reply #91 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:53:48 AM »

This is an awesome model kit.

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #92 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:03:45 AM »

Quote from: Mazian on February 05, 2013, 10:53:48 AM

This is an awesome model kit.

Fiberglass is the perfect material for a stealth aircraft.

Thad · « **Reply #93 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:10:29 AM »

Quote from: Ted Beanmont on February 05, 2013, 10:50:03 AM

It's possible he was just implying that Ahmadinejad looks like a monkey, not that all Iranians are monkeys.

Right, that's my read. Which is why I smiled instead of wincing.

Quote from: Ted Beanmont on February 05, 2013, 10:50:03 AM

HOWEVER, the term "monkey" does have a pretty long and specific history of being used as a racial slur, so even if there was no racist intent, a sitting US Senator should have thought a little bit harder before using it in a joke like that.

Well yes, especially given the rather public flap people have gotten over the last few years for Obama/chimp comparisons. (Some people can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea that no, it wasn't racist when people called Bush a chimp, but yes it is racist when people call Obama one. Scott Adams spent some time ruining his brand by acting as if he doesn't know the difference, in-between bragging about his MENSA status.) Easy read is that McCain sees it as "it's only racist if it's a black guy".

Hell, I dunno. We've already put more thought into this than any single human being has ever put into any tweet, ever.

Brentai · « **Reply #94 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:41:41 AM »

I think he just saw a good setup and went for it. The motivation was circumstance, not race.

Which is fine and all, and he seemed to think it was good-natured ribbing, except to the rest of the world he's taking potshots at a guy who we're all supposed to be very afraid of.

In truth it probably was ribbing because, well...

.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #95 on:** February 05, 2013, 12:12:32 PM »

McCain is like 400. He's obviously just an old dude who thought he could get a good joke in and be loved again.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #96 on:** May 15, 2013, 01:40:58 PM »

Stuxnet may have helped, not harmed, Iran's nuclear program

Gist of it is, since Iran wasn't pursuing nuclear weapons, it wasn't a threat and the release of the Stuxnet virus just showed them critical security flaws. It also helped them analyze their centrifuges and increase enrichment capacity.

Mongrel · « **Reply #97 on:** May 15, 2013, 01:58:30 PM »

One thing people often forget about Iran is that they do seem to have a pretty high degree of native engineering capability, even in spite of the worlds worst brain drain rates.

They manufacture a hell of a lot of stuff on their own, and while Persian cars aren't going to beat any respectable international manufacturer, they're at least respectably mediocre, rather than a joke like the Lada or Yugo. When they beat Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war, a huge part of that was because they had the local know how to keep their American jets flying in spite of a complete embargo on parts and supplies (Iran's near-total air superiority was arguably the deciding factor in that war).

Which really isn't much more than to say they're more akin to Soviet Russia rather than (insert joke dictatorship here) when it comes to technology. But a lot of people really blow that off.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #98 on:** May 15, 2013, 02:04:01 PM »

Their continued success with a nuclear program, in the face of the western world trying to stop them by various means (including assassinations), serves a pretty big testament to their engineering skill.

Büge · « **Reply #99 on:** May 15, 2013, 02:56:18 PM »

And their determination. We could learn a lot from them.

News:

Author Topic: iRan (Read 9813 times)