SoylentNews

Trigger Warning: This content is too spicy for SoylentNews.

Georgetown Law Professors Say Students Are “Traumatized” by Criticisms of Scalia, Demand “Remedies”

On the day the death of Justice Antonin Scalia was announced, Georgetown Law School issued an official statement and press release headlined “Georgetown Law Mourns the Loss of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.” It quoted the school’s dean, William M. Treanor, heaping unqualified praise on the highly controversial justice.

“Scalia was a giant in the history of the law, a brilliant jurist whose opinions and scholarship profoundly transformed the law,” Dean Treanor pronounced. “Like countless academics, I learned a great deal from his opinions and his scholarship. In the history of the Court, few justices have had such influence on the way in which the law is understood.” Moreover, “he cared passionately about the profession, about the law and about the future. … We will all miss him.” It went on and on in that vein.

[...] Two Georgetown law professors, Mike Seidman and Gary Peller, disagreed with Dean Treanor’s glowing assessment of Scalia and said so. That night, Seidman posted a brief email to the dean and faculty noting: “Our norms of civility preclude criticizing public figures immediately after their death.” As a result, said Seidman, “all I’ll say is that I disagree with these sentiments and that expressions attributed to the ‘Georgetown Community’ in the press release issued this evening do not reflect the views of the entire community.”

A full two days after Scalia’s death, Professor Peller wrote an email — first to the dean and the faculty, and thereafter to the entire law school — explaining his dissent from the dean’s praise. Like a huge number of Americans generally, and legal professionals particularly, Professor Peller viewed Scalia’s role on the Supreme Court as toxic in the extreme, and he explained why.

Professor Peller wrote that he was “put off” by the official statement praising Scalia, and that he “imagine[s] many other faculty, students, and staff, particularly people of color, women, and sexual minorities, cringed at [the] headline and at the unmitigated praise with which the press release described a jurist that many of us believe was a defender of privilege, oppression, and bigotry, one whose intellectual positions were not brilliant but simplistic and formalistic.” He added that Scalia “was not a legal figure to be lionized or emulated by our students. He bullied lawyers, trafficked in personal humiliation of advocates, and openly sided with the party of intolerance in the ‘culture wars’ he often invoked. In my mind, he was not a ‘giant’ in any good sense.”

So far, so good: right? The Georgetown dean lionized Scalia as a “brilliant jurist” from whom we all learned so very much and whom we will “all miss,” while a law professor objected to that view and argued that Scalia was actually a destructive presence on the Court. That sounds to me like exactly the sort of debate that one should find at a major U.S. law school, the sort of debate thinking adults have on a daily basis. Vehement criticisms of Scalia have long been, and still are, commonplace; The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin this week wrote that Scalia “devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy.”

But two conservative law professors on the Georgetown faculty are indignant that this debate took place at all. The right-wing duo, Randy Barnett and Nick Rosenkranz (a senior Rubio adviser), sent their own email denouncing Peller’s anti-Scalia statement: not on substantive grounds that he was wrong on the merits about Scalia, but insisting that he had no right to criticize Scalia at all.

They began with an incredibly petty accusation that Professor Peller broke the law school’s rules in posting his statement; it was, they said, “in violation of the stated policies governing such emails.” By contrast, the two professors boasted, they “sought and received permission to post this response in an attempt to remedy the harm caused by the initial breach of our norms.”

After they each recounted fond personal memories they shared with Justice Scalia (“We had lunch together at his favorite pizza place, AV Ristorante. … We once sang a song together, believe it or not: Oh, Danny Boy”), they jointly moved to the crux of their grievance: It was “simply cruel beyond words” to subject these two professors to criticisms of their beloved hero. They literally said that:

To hear from one’s colleagues, within hours of the death of a hero, mentor, and friend, that they resent any implication that they might mourn his death — that, in effect, they are glad he is dead — is simply cruel beyond words.

They added, “But, though the insult and cruelty of our colleagues was grievous, at least only two of us had to bear it.” We had to bear it.

[...] For some reason, national pundits who love to denounce “PC” campus censorship and parade around as free speech crusaders obsessively focus on left-wing censorship while ignoring other kinds of campus viewpoint-suppression that are far more common. As I’ve documented repeatedly, the most common form of campus censorship — punishment and other official limitations imposed on activists working against Israeli occupation of Palestine — is almost always completely ignored in this pundit debate.

Indeed, it’s common for those seeking to suppress left-wing views on college campuses to invoke exactly the same “safe space” rhetoric. As we noted last week in reporting on the growing criminalization of the BDS movement, the University of Illinois student who led the campaign to have Steven Salaita fired for his pro-Gaza tweets, himself a former AIPAC intern, told the New York Times when justifying this campaign: “Hate speech is never acceptable for those applying for a tenured position; incitement to violence is never acceptable. … There must be a relationship between free speech and civility.” Another “pro-Israel” student demanding Salaita’s firing said, “It’s about feeling safe on campus.” This is seen over and over: “PC” censorship is almost always depicted as a left-wing phenomenon even though it is directed at least as commonly at the Left as it is wielded by them.

Read the rest!

Medical Marijuana Users in Canada Can Legally Grow Their Own Weed Now

Medical marijuana patients in Canada are free to grow their own plants after a Federal Court judge ruled the current laws forbidding that are unconstitutional.

Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, the Conservative government banned cannabis patients from growing their own supply, forcing them to purchase weed from licensed producers. Previously, patients were permitted to grow under the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) program.

The restrictions were challenged by four British Columbia residents, who claimed they were a violation of Charter rights. On Wednesday, Judge Michael Phelan sided with the plaintiffs in a Vancouver courtroom. He has suspended his decision for six months to give the Liberal government time to create new legislation. In the meantime, Canadians with licenses to produce marijuana under the MMAR can continue to do so.

Ontario patient Kyle Morrison, 36, who suffers from arthritis and herniated discs stemming from a workplace injury, told VICE he's relieved to hear the news. Morrison has had an MMAR license for the last five years allowing him to be in possession of 15 plants. He wants to continue to grow his own pot. "I [raise] my own poultry... I hunt. I basically don't buy meat from a grocery store, and I don't want to smoke grocery store cannabis," he said. Morrison, who also suffers from mental health issues, said he wanted his children to be free to grow medical marijuana should they require it in the future.

Longtime pot activist and patient Tracy Curley told VICE the news was "really, really good," but she suspects the Crown prosecutor will appeal the decision.

http://deadline.com/2016/02/deadpool-risen-the-witch-race-weekend-box-office-1201705730/

“It’s a Deadpool world and we’re just living in it,” beamed 20th Century Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson this morning. The Marvel anti-hero movie hasn’t calmed down with weekend 2 of $55M and a 10-day total of $235.4M, with a big assist from star Ryan Reynolds, who continues promoting. Yesterday, his satirical Deadpool Kanye-esque rant against Saturday Night Live exec producer Lorne Michaels went viral, clocking 2.4M YouTube views.

[...] Could Deadpool topple The Passion Of The Christ ($370.8M) to become the top-grossing R-rated film of all-time? The Tim Miller-directed superhero movie thru Sunday will be running 11% ahead of Mel Gibson’s New Testament title through its second weekend. Yeah, it’s an apples to oranges comparison given the discrepancy between the two titles’ crowds. Passion reaped seven weekends of double-digit million dollar grosses from the Lenten faithful back in 2004. A Friday Imax matinee at Edwards Valencia Cinema, 30 minutes north of Hollywood, drew mostly couples to the raunchy Marvel film. But there’s a lot of back-to-back franchise competition this spring. Just look at what’s standing in Deadpool‘s way: London Has Fallen, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Divergent Series: Allegiant and Batman v. Superman. With all these brand titles, you’d think it was summer. Many in the business feel $350M is within reach for Deadpool, which would put it nose-to-nose with American Sniper, the second highest grossing R-rated film at the domestic B.O.

// ==UserScript==
// @name Soylent Upgrade
// @version 11.0
// @match http://soylentnews.org/*article.pl*
// @match http://*.soylentnews.org/*article.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*article.pl*
// @match https://*.soylentnews.org/*article.pl*

// @match http://soylentnews.org/*submit.pl*
// @match http://*.soylentnews.org/*submit.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*submit.pl*
// @match https://*.soylentnews.org/*submit.pl*

// @match http://soylentnews.org/*admin.pl*
// @match http://*.soylentnews.org/*admin.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*admin.pl*
// @match https://*.soylentnews.org/*admin.pl*

// @match http://soylentnews.org/*comments.pl*
// @match http://*.soylentnews.org/*comments.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*comments.pl*
// @match https://*.soylentnews.org/*comments.pl*

// @match http://soylentnews.org/*journal.pl*
// @match http://*.soylentnews.org/*journal.pl*
// @match https://soylentnews.org/*journal.pl*
// @match https://*.soylentnews.org/*journal.pl*
// ==/UserScript==

// User Options:

var simplifyChars = true; // Change to false if you don't want stylized quotation marks, ellipses, etc. to be replaced
var stripEmail = false; // Remove auto-filled email from submission
var doiChecker = true; // Add Crossref search to DOIs in the summary

// End User Options

/* ! http://mths.be/fromcodepoint v0.1.0 by @mathias */
if (!String.fromCodePoint) { (function() { var defineProperty = (function() { try { var object = {}; var $defineProperty = Object.defineProperty; var result = $defineProperty(object, object, object) && $defineProperty; } catch(error) {} return result; }()); var stringFromCharCode = String.fromCharCode; var floor = Math.floor; var fromCodePoint = function() { var MAX_SIZE = 0x4000; var codeUnits = []; var highSurrogate; var lowSurrogate; var index = -1; var length = arguments.length; if (!length) { return ''; } var result = ''; while (++index < length) { var codePoint = Number(arguments[index]); if ( !isFinite(codePoint) || codePoint < 0 || codePoint > 0x10FFFF || floor(codePoint) != codePoint ) { throw RangeError('Invalid code point: ' + codePoint); } if (codePoint <= 0xFFFF) { codeUnits.push(codePoint); } else { codePoint -= 0x10000; highSurrogate = (codePoint >> 10) + 0xD800; lowSurrogate = (codePoint % 0x400) + 0xDC00; codeUnits.push(highSurrogate, lowSurrogate); } if (index + 1 == length || codeUnits.length > MAX_SIZE) { result += stringFromCharCode.apply(null, codeUnits); codeUnits.length = 0; } } return result; }; if (defineProperty) { defineProperty(String, 'fromCodePoint', { 'value': fromCodePoint, 'configurable': true, 'writable': true }); } else { String.fromCodePoint = fromCodePoint; } }()); }

// Add "Quote This" buttons to all initially visible comments
var spans = document.getElementsByTagName("span");
for (var x=0; x<spans.length; x++)
{
    if (spans[x].id.indexOf("reply_link_")==0)
    {
        var button = document.createElement("span");
        button.setAttribute("class","nbutton");
        var p = document.createElement("p");
        var b = document.createElement("b");
        var a = document.createElement("a");
        // Set the href of the "Quote This" button to the href of the "Reply to This" button, with the escaped contents of the post added to URL and any [domain.names] following links in the post cut out:
        a.setAttribute("href",spans[x].getElementsByTagName("a")[0].href.replace("#post_comment","&postercomment="+escape("<blockquote>"+document.getElementById("comment_body_"+spans[x].id.replace("reply_link_","")).innerHTML.replace(/<\/a>\s\[.*?\..*?\]/g,"<\/a>")+"<\/blockquote>\n\n")+"#post_comment"));
        // To Do: Shorten URLs longer than 2000 characters
        a.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Quote This"));
        b.appendChild(a);
        p.appendChild(b);
        button.appendChild(p);
        spans[x].parentNode.insertBefore(button, spans[x].nextSibling);
        spans[x].parentNode.insertBefore(document.createTextNode(" "), spans[x].nextSibling); // Divider
    }
}

// DOI checker in the summary
if (doiChecker && window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/.*soylentnews\.org.*?\/article\.pl/)!=-1)
{
    var summary = document.getElementById("articles").getElementsByClassName("intro")[0];
    summary.innerHTML = summary.innerHTML.replace(/(\(|\[)DOI: (10[^\)]*?)(\)|\])/gi,"$1DOI: <a href='http://search.crossref.org/?q=$2' target='_blank'>$2</a>$3");
    summary.innerHTML = summary.innerHTML.replace(/(\(|\[)open, DOI: (10[^\)]*?)(\)|\])/gi,"$1open, DOI: <a href='http://search.crossref.org/?q=$2' target='_blank'>$2</a>$3");
}

// Empty email input area, but only on submission page
if (stripEmail && window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/.*soylentnews\.org.*?\/submit\.pl/)!=-1)
{
    var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
    {
        if (boxes[x].name == "email")
        {
            boxes[x].value = "";
        }
    }
}

// Add title case button next to title/subj field on Story Submissions, Submission Preview, and Story Preview
if (window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/.*soylentnews\.org.*?\/(submit|admin)\.pl/)!=-1)
{
    var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
    {
        if (boxes[x].name == "title" || boxes[x].name == "subj")
        {
            boxes[x].id = "storyTitle";
            var button = document.createElement("input");
            button.setAttribute("type","button");
            button.setAttribute("value","Title Case");
            button.setAttribute("title","Convert title to title case.");
            button.setAttribute("onclick","document.getElementById('storyTitle').value=document.getElementById('storyTitle').value.replace(/^\\s/gi,'').replace(/\\b([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1){return p1.toUpperCase();}).replace(/\\b(at|of|is|and|to|in|by|as|its|be|the|on|a|an|but|or|for)\\b/gi,function(m, p1){return p1.toLowerCase();}).replace(/^([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1){return p1.toUpperCase();}).replace(/:\\s([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1){return ': '+p1.toUpperCase();}).replace(/([a-z])['\u2019]([a-z])/gi,function(m, p1, p2){return p1+'\\''+p2.toLowerCase();}).replace(/\\bx(86|64)\\b/gi,'x$1').replace(/\\s$/gi,'');");
            boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(button, boxes[x].nextSibling);
            if (window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/.*soylentnews\.org.*?\/admin\.pl/)!=-1 || boxes[x].name == "subj")
            {
                boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(document.createElement("br"), boxes[x].nextSibling);
            }
            else
            {
                boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(document.createTextNode(" "), boxes[x].nextSibling);
            }
        }
    }
}

// Add warning for creating a story in the past
if (window.location.href.search(/https?\:\/\/.*soylentnews\.org.*?\/admin\.pl/)!=-1)
{
    var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
    {
        if (boxes[x].name == "op" && (boxes[x].value == "save"))
        {
            // New onclick extracts the post date, compares to the current date, and only submits if the post date is in the future or the user overrides the warning:
            boxes[x].setAttribute("onclick","var d = new Date(document.getElementById('slashstoryform').elements['time'].value.replace(/\\s/,'T')); var a = true; if (d < Date.now()){a = confirm('Are you sure you want to post a story '+(Math.round((Date.now()-d)/60000))+' minutes in the past?');} if (a) {st_submit(this);}");
        }
    }
}

var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName("textarea");
for (var x=0; x<boxes.length; x++)
{
    if (boxes[x].name == "introtext" || boxes[x].name == "bodytext" || boxes[x].name == "story")
    {
        var temp = boxes[x].value; // Retrieve textarea contents
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/p><p>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<p>"); // Add newlines between paragraphs
        temp = temp.replace(/<br>\s?<br>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<p>"); // Convert double break tags to paragraph tags
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/blockquote><p>/g,"<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>"); // Add newlines after blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/p><blockquote>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<blockquote>"); // Add newlines before blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<blockquote><div><p>/g,"<blockquote><div>\n\n<p>"); // Add newlines within start of blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>/g,"<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/blockquote>"); // Add newlines within end of blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/blockquote><blockquote>/g,"<\/blockquote>\n\n<blockquote>"); // Add newlines between two blockquotes
        temp = temp.replace(/<p class="byline">\s/i,"<p class=\"byline\">"); // Remove extra space from byline
        temp = temp.replace(/<p>\s/g,"<p>"); // Remove extra space from start of paragraph
        temp = temp.replace(/\s<\/p>/g,"<\/p>"); // Remove extra space from end of paragraph
        temp = temp.replace(/<\/li><li>/g,"<\/li>\n<li>"); // Add newlines between list items
        temp = temp.replace(/(<\/li>)(<\/[u|o]l>)/g,'$1\n$2'); // Add newline after last list item
        temp = temp.replace(/(<\/p>)(<[u|o]l>)/g,'$1\n$2'); // Add newlines before lists
        temp = temp.replace(/<p>\[...\]/g,"<p>[...] "); // Add space within beginning of foreshortened paragraph
        while (temp.indexOf("  ")!=-1)
        {
            temp = temp.replace(/  /g," "); // Replace double spaces with single spaces
        }
        if (simplifyChars)
        {
            temp = temp.replace(/\u2018/g,"'"); // 'LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+2018) to (U+0027)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u2019/g,"'"); // 'RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+2019) to (U+0027)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u201C/g,"\""); // 'LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+201C) to (U+0022)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u201D/g,"\""); // 'RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+201D) to (U+0022)
            temp = temp.replace(/\u2026/g,"..."); // 'HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS' (U+2026) to (U+002E) x3
        }
        boxes[x].value = temp;
        boxes[x].rows = 32; // Expand textarea height to 32 rows
    }
    var toolbar = document.createElement("div");

    // Blockquote button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Blockquote");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Cblockquote\u003E tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addBlockquote(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Paragraph and Line break buttons
    var tempspan = document.createElement("span");
    tempspan.setAttribute("id","htmlFormatButtons");
    if (document.getElementById("posttype") && document.getElementById("posttype").selectedIndex == 0)
    {
        tempspan.setAttribute("style","display:none;"); // Hide if initial post type option is "Plain Old Text"
    }
    if (document.getElementById("posttype"))
    {
        document.getElementById("posttype").addEventListener("change", function() {if (document.getElementById('posttype').selectedIndex == 0) {document.getElementById('htmlFormatButtons').style.display = 'none'} else {document.getElementById('htmlFormatButtons').style.display = 'inline'}}); // Change visibility of these buttons based on value of post type
    }
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","P");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Cp\u003E tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addPara(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    tempspan.appendChild(tempbutton);
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","BR");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert a line break.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addBreak(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    tempspan.appendChild(tempbutton);
    toolbar.appendChild(tempspan);

    // HR button, if editing a story
    if (boxes[x].name == "introtext" || boxes[x].name == "bodytext" || boxes[x].name == "story")
    {
        var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("value","HR");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert a horizontal rule.");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("style","text-decoration:underline overline;");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addHRule(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
        tempspan.appendChild(tempbutton);
        toolbar.appendChild(tempspan);
    }

    // URL button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","URL");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Create a hyperlink around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","text-decoration:underline;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addHyperlink(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));

    // Bold button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","B");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Bold");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-weight:bold;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addBold(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Italic button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","I");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Italic");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-style:italic;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addItalic(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Strike button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","S");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Strikethrough");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","text-decoration:line-through;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addStrike(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" ")); // Divider

    // Code button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Code");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Cecode\u003E tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addEcode(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Teletype button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","TT");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Ctt\u003E (teletype, i.e. monospace) tags around the selected text.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addTT(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Small button, if editing a story
    if (boxes[x].name == "introtext" || boxes[x].name == "bodytext" || boxes[x].name == "story")
    {
        var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("value","\u0073\u1D0D\u1D00\u029F\u029F");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Wrap \u003Csmall\u003E tags around the selected text.");
        // tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-size:75%;");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addSmall(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
        toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    }

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" ")); // Divider

    // Superscript button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","x\u00B2");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Superscript");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addSuper(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Subscript button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","x\u2082");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Subscript");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("style","font-family:monospace;");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addSubsc(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" ")); // Divider

    // Ordered list button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","1. List");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert an ordered list or convert newline-separated text into an ordered list.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addOrdlist(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Unordered list button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","\u2022 List");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert an unordered list or convert newline-separated text into an unordered list.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","addUnordlist(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createElement("br")); // Divider

    // Create 7 macro buttons
    for (var i=1; i<=7; i++)
    {
        // Create macros if they don't exist
        if(!localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))
        {
            localStorage.setItem("soymacro"+i,JSON.stringify(["M"+i,"string","Sample Text"]));
            //localStorage.setItem("soymacro"+i,JSON.stringify(["M"+i,"regexp","/a/gi","b"]));
        }
        var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
        tempbutton.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"button"+i);
        tempbutton.setAttribute("value",JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[0]);
        if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[1]=="string")
        {
            if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2].length < 40)
            {
                tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert or replace selected text with: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2]);
            }
            else
            {
                tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert or replace selected text with: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2].substring(0,40)+"...");
            }
            tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","macroChoose(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"],"+i+");");
        }
        else
        {
            tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Replace text matched by the regular expression: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[2] + " with: " + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("soymacro"+i))[3]);
            tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","macroChoose(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"],"+i+");");
        }
        toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    }
    // Create macros edit button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Edit");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Configure user macros or discard changes.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","if (document.getElementById('macrobar"+x+"').style.display == 'none') {document.getElementById('macrobar"+x+"').style.display = 'block'; macrobarInit("+x+");} else {document.getElementById('macrobar"+x+"').style.display = 'none'; if (p = document.getElementById('postercomment')) { var x = p.offsetTop; while (p = p.offsetParent) {x += p.offsetLeft;} window.scrollTo(0,x-75);}}");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    toolbar.appendChild(document.createElement("br")); // Divider

    // Despace button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value","Despace");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Delete newlines within the selection.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","despace(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"]);");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);

    // Symbol button
    var tempbutton = document.createElement("input");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("type","button");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("value",":-)");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("title","Insert a symbol.");
    tempbutton.setAttribute("onclick","if (document.getElementById('smilebar"+x+"').style.display == 'none') {document.getElementById('smilebar"+x+"').style.display = 'block'} else {document.getElementById('smilebar"+x+"').style.display = 'none'; if (p = document.getElementById('postercomment')) { var x = p.offsetTop; while (p = p.offsetParent) {x += p.offsetLeft;} window.scrollTo(0,x-75); } }");
    toolbar.appendChild(tempbutton);
    boxes[x].parentNode.insertBefore(toolbar, boxes[x].nextSibling);

    // Symbol list
    var smilebar = document.createElement("div");
    smilebar.setAttribute("style","-moz-user-select:none; -webkit-user-select:none; display:none; font-size:16pt; max-height:240px; overflow:auto; padding:0.5em;");
    smilebar.setAttribute("id","smilebar"+x);
    var smiles = ["\u0026amp;","\u0026lt;","\u0026gt;"];

    var codes = [[161,169],[171,172],[174],[176,177],[180,183],[187,191],[215],[224,255],[402],[629],[632],[916],[920],[931],[934],[937],[945,946],[956],[960],[963],[8216,8221],[8226],[8230],[8251],[8364],[8478],[8482],[8528,8542],[8585],[8592,8652],[8712,8716],[8721],[8730],[8733,8734],[8736],[8743,8749],[8756,8757],[8773],[8776],[8800,8805],[8834,8837],[8984],[9760],[9762,9765],[9770],[9773,9775],[9784,9794],[9812,9831],[9833,9842],[9850],[9855,9861],[9874,9877],[9882,9885],[9888,9893],[9913],[9940],[9962],[9971],[9981],[9992,10087],[65533],[127744,127756],[127759],[127775,127776],[127797],[127801],[127804,127812],[127817],[127820,127822],[127828,127831],[127838,127839],[127843],[127849],[127855],[127860,127867],[127891],[127904,127911],[127918],[127939],[127942],[127977],[128025],[128074,128078],[128123,128131],[128137,128142],[128148,128150],[128152],[128158],[128161,128164],[128168,128170],[128172],[128176,128177],[128187],[128189,128190],[128193,128194],[128197],[128203,128204],[128206],[128214],[128225,128227],[128231,128233],[128241],[128244],[128246],[128250,128252],[128259],[128266,128270],[128273,128276],[128278,128280],[128286],[128293,128299],[128302,128303],[128509,128565],[128659],[128684,128685]];

    for (var i=0; i<codes.length; i++) { if (codes[i].length > 1) { for (var j=codes[i][0]; j<=codes[i][1]; j++) { smiles[smiles.length] = String.fromCodePoint(j); } } else { smiles[smiles.length] = String.fromCodePoint(codes[i][0]); } } // Populate smiles array with code ranges converted to individual characters

    smiles = smiles.concat(["xD",":-)",":^)","(^_^;)","(\u00A0\u0361\u00B0\u00A0\u035C\u0296\u00A0\u0361\u00B0)","(\u00A0\u0361\u007E\u00A0\u035C\u0296\u00A0\u0361\u00B0)\uFEFF","\u00AF\u005C\u005F(\u30C4)\u005F\u002F\u00AF","(\u256F\u00B0\u25A1\u00B0\uFF09\u256F\uFE35\u00A0\u253B\u2501\u253B","(\u30CE\u0CA0\u76CA\u0CA0)\u30CE\u5F61\u253B\u2501\u253B","(\u0060\uFF65\u03C9\uFF65\u00B4)","\u0CA0_\u0CA0","\u0295\u2022\u1D25\u2022\u0294","(\u3065\uFFE3\u00A0\u00B3\uFFE3)\u3065","\u0669(\u204E\u275B\u1D17\u275B\u204E)\u06F6","\u30FD\u0F3C\u0E88\u0644\u035C\u0E88\u0F3D\uFF89","(\uB208\u2038\uB208)","\u006F(\u3003\uFF3E\u25BD\uFF3E\u3003)\u006F","\u0028\u0028\u30FE\u0028\u2267\u76BF\u2266\uFF1B\u0029\u30CE\uFF3F\u0029\u0029","\u30FD\u0028\u002A\u2312\u2207\u2312\u002A\u0029\uFF89","\u0028\u2267\u2207\u2266\u0029\u002F"]); // Add in arbitrary emoticons

    for (var i=0; i<smiles.length; i++)
    {
        var smile = document.createElement("span");
        smile.setAttribute("style","cursor:pointer; padding:2px; white-space:nowrap;");
        smile.setAttribute("onclick","addSmile(document.getElementsByTagName('textarea')["+x+"],'"+smiles[i].replace("\u005C","\u005C\u005C")+"');");
        smile.appendChild(document.createTextNode(smiles[i]));
        smilebar.appendChild(smile);
        if (i+1<smiles.length)
        {
            smilebar.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
        }
    }
    toolbar.parentNode.insertBefore(smilebar, toolbar.nextSibling);

    // Create macro configuration interface
    var macrobar = document.createElement("div");
    macrobar.setAttribute("style","display:none; padding:0.5em;");
    macrobar.setAttribute("id","macrobar"+x);
    var table = document.createElement("table");
    var tr = document.createElement("tr");
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Name"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Type"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("String | Expression"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    var th = document.createElement("th");
    th.setAttribute("title","Only used with expressions. Parenthesized substring matches (e.g. '$1') can be used.");
    th.setAttribute("style","cursor:help;");
    th.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Expression Replace"));
    tr.appendChild(th);
    table.appendChild(tr);
    for (var i=1; i<=7; i++)
    {
        var tr = document.createElement("tr");

        // Macro name
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var name = document.createElement("input");
        name.setAttribute("type","text");
        name.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"name"+i);
        td.appendChild(name);
        tr.appendChild(td);

        // Macro type
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var rad = document.createElement("input");
        rad.setAttribute("type","radio");
        rad.setAttribute("name","soymacros"+x+"type"+i);
        rad.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"type"+i+"S");
        td.appendChild(rad);
        td.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" String "));
        var rad = document.createElement("input");
        rad.setAttribute("type","radio");
        rad.setAttribute("name","soymacros"+x+"type"+i);
        rad.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"type"+i+"E");
        td.appendChild(rad);
        td.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" Expression "));
        tr.appendChild(td);

        // Field A
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var f1 = document.createElement("input");
        f1.setAttribute("type","text");
        f1.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"fieldA"+i);
        td.appendChild(f1);
        tr.appendChild(td);

        // Field B
        var td = document.createElement("td");
        var f1 = document.createElement("input");
        f1.setAttribute("type","text");
        f1.setAttribute("id","soymacros"+x+"fieldB"+i);
        td.appendChild(f1);
        tr.appendChild(td);

        table.appendChild(tr);
    }
    macrobar.appendChild(table);

    var p = document.createElement("p");
    var save = document.createElement("input");
    save.setAttribute("type","button");
    save.setAttribute("value","Save");
    save.setAttribute("title","Save any edits to the macro configuration.");
    save.setAttribute("onclick","macrobarSave("+x+");");
    p.appendChild(save);
    p.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
    var guide = document.createElement("a");
    guide.setAttribute("href","https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions");
    guide.setAttribute("target","_blank");
    guide.appendChild(document.createTextNode("Regexp Guide"));
    p.appendChild(guide);
    macrobar.appendChild(p);

    toolbar.parentNode.insertBefore(macrobar, toolbar.nextSibling);
}

var temp = document.createElement("script");

// Add selection handling function
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function getSelection(textarea) { if ('selectionStart' in textarea) { if (textarea.selectionStart != textarea.selectionEnd) { return [textarea.selectionStart,textarea.selectionEnd]; } } } "));

// Add comment formatting buttons
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function addBlockquote(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<blockquote>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/blockquote>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addPara(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<p>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/p>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addBreak(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<br>' + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+4,pos+4) } } function addHRule(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<hr>' + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+4,pos+4) } } function addHyperlink(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { url = prompt('URL:', 'https://'); area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<a href=\"'+url+'\">'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/a>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addBold(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<b>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/b>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addItalic(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<em>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/em>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addStrike(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<strike>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/strike>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addEcode(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<ecode>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/ecode>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addTT(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<tt>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/tt>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addSmall(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<small>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/small>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addSuper(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<sup>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/sup>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } function addSubsc(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + '<sub>'+area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1])+'<\/sub>' + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } } "));

// Add list creation functions
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function addOrdlist(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { if (area.selectionStart != area.selectionEnd) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<ol><li>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart,area.selectionEnd).replace(/\\n/g,'<\/li>\\n<li>').replace(/\\n<li><\\/li>/g,'') + '<\/li><\/ol>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionEnd); } else { temp = '<ol>'; while(listitem = prompt('Enter a list item. Leave the box empty or press Cancel to complete the list:', '')) { temp += '<li>' + listitem + '<\/li>\\n'; } area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + temp.substring(0,temp.length-1) + '<\/ol>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart); } } } function addUnordlist(area) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { if (area.selectionStart != area.selectionEnd) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + '<ul><li>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart,area.selectionEnd).replace(/\\n/g,'<\/li>\\n<li>').replace(/\\n<li><\\/li>/g,'') + '<\/li><\/ul>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionEnd); } else { temp = '<ul>'; while(listitem = prompt('Enter a list item. Leave the box empty or press Cancel to complete the list:', '')) { temp += '<li>' + listitem + '<\/li>\\n'; } area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + temp.substring(0,temp.length-1) + '<\/ul>' + area.value.substring(area.selectionStart); } } }"));

// Add macro functions
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macroChoose(area,x) { if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[1]=='string') { macroString(area,x); } else { macroRegexp(area,x); } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macroString(area,x) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (sel && sel[0] != sel[1]) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2] + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } else if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,area.selectionStart) + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2] + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2].length,pos+JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2].length); } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macroRegexp(area,x) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (sel && sel[0] != sel[1]) { var reg = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[2]; area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1]).replace(new RegExp(reg.substring(reg.indexOf('/')+1,reg.lastIndexOf('/')), reg.substring(reg.lastIndexOf('/')+1)),JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+x))[3]) + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macrobarInit(x) { for (var y=1; y<=7; y++) { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'name'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[0]; if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[1]=='string') { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'type'+y+'S').checked = true; } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'type'+y+'E').checked = true; } document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldA'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2]; if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[1]!='string') { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldB'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[3]; } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldB'+y).value = ''; } } }"));
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function macrobarSave(x) { for (var y=1; y<=7; y++) { if (document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'type'+y+'S').checked == true) { localStorage.setItem('soymacro'+y,JSON.stringify([document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'name'+y).value,'string',document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldA'+y).value])); } else { localStorage.setItem('soymacro'+y,JSON.stringify([document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'name'+y).value,'regexp',document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldA'+y).value,document.getElementById('soymacros'+x+'fieldB'+y).value])); } } document.getElementById('macrobar'+x).style.display = 'none'; var boxes = document.getElementsByTagName('textarea'); for (var z=0; z<boxes.length; z++) { for (var y=1; y<=7; y++) { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).value = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[0]; if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[1]=='string') { if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2].length < 40) { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).title = 'Insert or replace selected text with: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2]; } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).title = 'Insert or replace selected text with: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2].substring(0,40)+'...'; } } else { document.getElementById('soymacros'+z+'button'+y).title = 'Replace text matched by the regular expression: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[2] + ' with: ' + JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('soymacro'+y))[3]; } } } }"));

// Add despace function
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function despace(area) { var sel = getSelection(area); if (!(sel[0] == 0 && sel[1] == 0)) { area.value = area.value.substring(0,sel[0]) + area.value.substring(sel[0],sel[1]).replace(/\\r/g,' ').replace(/\\n/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ').replace(/\\s\\s/g,' ') + area.value.substring(sel[1]); } }"));

// Add unicode insertion function
temp.appendChild(document.createTextNode("function addSmile(area, smile) { if ('selectionStart' in area) { var pos = area.selectionStart; area.value = area.value.substring(0,pos) + smile + area.value.substring(pos); area.focus(); area.setSelectionRange(pos+smile.length,pos+smile.length) } }"));

document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(temp); // Add script to page

Imam Mohammed writes:

Following are excerpts from Sahin's article, titled "Monkeys Evolved from Humans." [2]

"Chromosomal Anomalies" In Monkeys "Have Never Led To The Birth Of Human Beings Or Of Monkeys Resembling Human Beings"

"Monkeys are animals that look like humans. Humans have 46 chromosomes and monkeys have 48. Since these chromosomes are similar in structure, these species can transfer from one to the other. When we, physicians, examine anomalies in chromosomes, we find that human chromosomal anomalies lead to the birth of humans similar to monkeys, as in cases of microcephaly, in which newborns resemble monkeys in form, intelligence, behavior, and social life. Such [deformed humans] must be kept under strict control. The numbers of such cases is not negligible.

"In monkeys too there are chromosomal anomalies, but these have never led to the birth of human beings or of monkeys resembling human beings. We understand from this that humans are not derived from monkeys, but that monkeys come from humans. There are many factors in the creation of such anomalies, among them divine, environmental, and chemical."

"Those Among You Who Violated The Saturday [Sabbath] Prohibitions... Will Become Miserable Monkeys [Koran 5:60]"

"Our God, the Creator of the universe, has also confirmed these truths. 'You know those among you who violated the Saturday [Sabbath] prohibitions. For them it is said that they will become miserable monkeys [Koran 2:65].'

"Also: 'Whomever Allah has cursed and punished, and those He turned into monkeys, pigs, and Satan worshippers, occupy the worst place [in His eyes], and they are perverts that have deviated from their path [Koran 5:60].'

"'And when they became arrogant and did not change their ways, they were told to become low and contemptible monkeys [Koran 7:166].'

"The [Koranic] verses above show us that monkeys have come from humans. Allah always tells the truth."

The Theory Of Evolution Is "An Opinion" By "A Jew Called Darwin"; "The Gorillas And Chimps Living Today In The Forests Of North Africa Are Cursed Jews"

"The theory of evolution was put forward by a Jew called Darwin. Therefore, it is an opinion. The aim of this theory is to turn the non-Jews away from their religion, to harm their faith, and to make them suspicious about their religion. Darwin, being a Jew, believed, lived, and was buried according to his religion. His real targets were the Muslims. Most likely, Darwin knew about these Koranic verses. In the Holy Koran, Allah responded very well to these perverts.

"Jews, who are well organized in the world's financial and scientific institutions, are so powerful that they terrorize the world of science. Through propaganda and through the reiteration of this nonsense, they have brainwashed and imposed this opinion as a rule, and sold this deception as scientific reality. Even some ignorant theologians have believed the propaganda of this theory...

"I believe that the gorillas and chimps living today in the forests of North Africa are cursed Jews. They are perverted humans that have mutated. This thought is much stronger and scientific than Darwin's theory. But we the Muslims, who believe this, do not have banks, money, or the organization inside the world of science [like the Jews have]. Neither do we have propaganda outlets, in order to scream this truth. But we have our intellect, we have our faith, and we have our Allah. Alhamdullillah [with the grace of Allah]."

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/9008.htm [memri.org]
http://www.antisemitismwatch.com/tag/seyfi-sahin/ [antisemitismwatch.com]
https://www.rt.com/news/332514-turkey-darwin-jews-monkeys/ [rt.com]
http://www.diken.com.tr/vahdet-yazarindan-tersine-evrim-teorisi-afrikada-yasayan-sempanzeler-lanetlenmis-yahudi/ [diken.com.tr]

Kanye West wants $1 billion from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg

He’s “this generation’s Disney” and technology leaders like Mark Zuckerberg would be doing the world a favor by investing a cool $1 billion in his musical ambitions.

That was the gist of an early Monday tweetstorm by rapper Kanye West, hours after he raised questions about his personal finances with this tweet that hinted he has $53 million worth of debt:

I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt... Please pray we overcome... This is my true heart...
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 14, 2016

In a fresh crop of posts, West made direct pleas to Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook Inc., and Larry Page, Alphabet Inc.’s CEO and the co-founder of Google, asking that they funnel some cash into his ideas:

Mark Zuckerberg invest 1 billion dollars into Kanye West ideas
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 14, 2016

Mark Zuckerberg I know it’s your bday but can you please call me by 2mrw…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

World, please tweet, FaceTime, Facebook, instagram, whatever you gotta do to get Mark to support me…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

Mark, I am publicly asking you for help…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

hey Larry Page I’m down for your help too …
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

West insinuated that Silicon Valley was full of hypocrites — executives who want to look cool listening to rap, yet never did anything to further growth in the music industry:

All you dudes in San Fran play rap music in your homes but never help the real artists…
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

The rapper made a thinly veiled reference to Zuckerberg’s education philanthropy — he is part of an investment group that aims to bring cheap, private education to millions of children across Africa and Asia. Frankly, said West, the money could be better spent helping him with his creative efforts, as he claimed to be the “Jordan and Steph Curry of music, meaning I’m the best of 2 generations”

There is an abundance of media and content available online, and in meatspace. This website contributes, and everyone on this site is a part of that. There are 15 stories this site will publish today, none I have touched. We will likely see several hundred comments and dozens of discussions. Many comments will be insightful or interesting, others will be funny, some will be less well received. There will be a small handful of journals like this one.

I try to contribute positively to this site. Perhaps not as much as I could or should, but I would rather do it well and have a constructive experience. When editing stories, I genuinely try to keep a wide scope of interests considered and choose quality submissions. These may not be the most commented on, but my intention is to publish content that is informative or interesting regardless of my own perspective on the subject.

However, most of the content I see and consume is certainly more of the entertainment variety. This is very different from the attitude I have on this site.

I would love to create content that is entertaining, having been in various bands and musical projects for many years in my teens and early 20's. I don't have any concern really over the number of people that would or have seen and enjoyed the music or other content. Some of my favorite musicians have extremely small audiences and short 'careers', it's about the art and expression, creating something from the imagination. It's still sad to see quality music being ignored regardless.

This is the problem. I'd much rather make serious content, to borrow a phrase 'stuff that matters'. People can and do make art and entertaining content far better than I could.

The state of journalism in the entire world is a shambles. There are so many events that need reviewing, context is always missing, contradictory reports are ignored. Every outlet with any reach with full-time 'journalists' are under the control of commercial interests and/or an incoherent bureaucratic mess of government oversight, perhaps wrapped in the guise of independence from government. There are people, by themselves and working with others to improve the situation. The work of people like Tom Secker[1] and Pearse Redmond[2] are quite outstanding examples of independent research and journalism on very important events. The community here seems to be trying. We don't have a big community though, much like Tom and Pearse, the shared perspectives rarely travel beyond a small community.

Options are available to even make a living from writing, I could do it tomorrow. But, I would be writing press releases and other commercial content generation for 'mainstream' consumption. It's not impossible to get work reporting on and for the public sector or political institutions. I can interpret the data, word things however you want to misrepresent it, or direct emphasis to the irrelevant, but that doesn't mean it's a worthwhile or constructive way to spend time and other resources.

Thankfully i've found myself in the situation where my employment is quite flexible, it's very hard work often, but I am not beholden to an employer. I have my morals and ethics and do business a certain way, which is honesty, there is no game. Working for multinationals and smaller companies who are staffed by people with no moral compass, intentionally or by process, i've been there. It's something I can't tolerate or be involved in anymore. A cog in the machine is not the place for me.

There are so many people now, more than ever creating art and writing for a living or as a major part of their lives. Perhaps now just the human experience. I don't feel like I really need to be a part of it, i'd like to spend my energy on the more tangible. It could be amazing, doing something i'm passionate about on a more spiritual sense, being able to focus on the creativity or reporting on current events.

In an ideal world, i'd love to do it all. Entertain, inform and build, be productive. Now though, I don't feel like i'm doing any of that.

The opportunities are numerous, but the downsides are immense. None of the opportunities, which would keep food on my plate, are actually positively contributing to society. Forgetting the aforementioned issues with 'writing' for a living. I can build more houses through subcontracting based on debt [public/private/foreign], for people to buy with more debt, to make sure house prices keep going up so the average home in London costs £1,000,000 by 2020 but the average wage stays around the £25,000 mark. Or it's build a broker/service company, with long winded service contracts and subcontractor agreements to extract as much money as possible from clients and contractors with as minimal obligation, none of it direct, all wrapped up in a nice advertising campaign of bullshit.

It's not about government regulation, it's about systemic corruption of government and the quarterly report obsessed private sector distorting any sense of fair trade and any semblance of actual investigative journalism or reporting. The regulations on smaller businesses don't actually matter as much. The access to discretionary enforcement of the regulations, minimal/zero risk access to multi-million funding, government grants and tailored projects for the 'big' everything. That's before we get onto the just straight up misinformation people in marketing and sales tell as part of their jobs. That's getting closer to the core of the problem.

Back a little more on topic before this hits a thousand words… Bearing all this in mind, I'm lost as to what to do. I'd love to contribute more to this site, it would be a dream to write every day. But really, shouldn't I be building homes for people, not houses for a bank? Shouldn't I be growing food for myself and my neighbors rather than installing some ambient lighting systems in a Michelin star restaurant?

The opportunity is there to make a positive contribution to society, but how can I find a direction?

[1] Tom Secker's work can be found at:
Spy Culture
Investigating the Terror
Boiling Frogs Post
[2] Pearse Redmond's work can be found at:
Porkins Policy Review

I just found out about Oracle's current generation of SPARC hardware and was wondering how much it cost. An entry level T7-1 server is about $40,000, and I couldn't stop wondering why they have such a terrible strategy with these machines.

I'm not saying that the hardware isn't absurdly difficult to manufacture or that they aren't selling "enterprise" products. What I do believe is that they really should be selling cut down or defective versions of their current SPARC chips for the workstation and small server market. I would fully expect that they are throwing away a very large number of chips that could be better used to grow their ecosystem and attract developers. That way, they wouldn't have to extort a dwindling number of interested buyers for their hardware and could have a stable income source for the future.

The caucuses? There's something wrong there.

Hillary got schlonged in New Hampshire, but she came away with more delegates than Bernie? What's up with that? Did Hillary pay for all those delegates in advance?

Ohhh, so THAT is why she's been getting zillions of dollars for prostituting herself to foreign interests! Makes sense now!

Hey, you really need to look into the corruption at Demcratic headquarters. Find out who got all that money for the delegate sale!

Ya know, this is mildly humorous. So few people understand why Trump is so popular. Prepaid delegates explains a lot of that. People are tired of the elites deciding in advance who is going to be president. We, the people, are quite tired of choosing between a shit sandwich or a shit sandwich. You don't understand it, Shrillary doesn't understand it, the DNC doesn't understand it, nor does the GOP understand.

We are simply tired of the corruption.

Super delegates my ass.

I get his newsletters. I don't know why, I've thought several times about unsubscribing. He whores himself to various corporations, pushing junk that almost nobody needs. Tactical pens? Today, it's a tactical crossbow. Ehhhh -

But, he does make some observations that are spot on the money. Today's email:

  Hillary Lost Because She Lied
By DICK MORRIS
Published on DickMorris.com on February 11, 2016
New Hampshire exit polls in the Democratic Primary indicate that Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton among self-described liberals by 60-39. Okay. But he also beat her among moderates and conservatives by a nearly identical 60-37 margin.

They also show that among the one-third of all voters who said "honesty and trustworthiness" were the most important qualities of a candidate in determining their vote, Sanders beat Clinton by 95-5.

  These data indicate that Sanders' victory was not the result of an ideological vote for a socialist but was due to a personal repudiation of a liar. It was Hillary's dearth of personal ethics and her lack of veracity, not her political ideology or her issue positions, that led to her smashing defeat in New Hampshire.

So when Hillary sought to co-opt and plagiarize Bernie's rhetoric in her concession speech, she did nothing to solve the problem that brought her low. Nor will any shift in her message or beheadings of her staff do much to help her.

It is not her position on the banks, TARP, Glass-Steagall, or campaign finance reform that is dragging her down. It is her email scandal, Benghazi, and her personal speeches for fees that are causing her candidacy to crash.

Hillary can change her issue positions as frequently and as totally as she changes her hair style. She can flip on the Keystone Pipeline and flop on the Trans Pacific Trade Deal. But she cannot go back and delete her lies, evasions, half-truths, and distortions. They live on video tape and in our memories, ready to spring to life as soon as she lies again.

This personal reputation is not something a new consultant can fix. All the king's horses and all the king's men cannot put Hillary back together again.

New Hampshire means Hillary is outed. It's downhill from here.