Containing eight essential forms of marrow, it's...
T H E J U I C E A N D G I N
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Term XL, Issue 6 (#183)
Weather outlook:
Warm or cold... make up your mind.
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* Contents *
************
- Editor's Blurb
- Ongoing Events
- Greg's DTK
- Humour
- General Info
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* Editor's Blurb *
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Hey all
There's so much content in this week's Juice and Gin, that I don't even
have to spout nonsense in the Introduction to make it look like we've
actually got stuff to talk about. Well, not really, but having a few
paragraphs makes it look like I actually put a little bit of thought
into this.
Next week... you know it, you love it: LOVE SQUALL DAY.
Until next time,
How do you say "loser" in Klingon?
Michael (mailto:nutsinfo$yahoo.ca)
And now, the rest of the story...
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* Ongoing Events *
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[See the Event Calendar on the web site for full descriptions.
--Ed.]
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Pool League
===========
Mondays
http://nutsevents.topcities.com/events/index.html#Monday
Contact: Larisa and Michael (pool$solutionsatsource.com)
View the current players' statistics at:
http://nutsevents.topcities.com/events/pool/index.html
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Indoor Rock Climbing
====================
Thursdays
Contact: Andrew (akpallek$hotmail.com)
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* Greg's Deep Thought Korner *
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In case you've been living in a shack for the last week, an incredibly
large controversy has started over the September 2005 publication of
cartoons in a Danish newspaper depicting the prophet Mohammad.
Whatever the point of the cartoons, it is well lost amidst the hue and
cry from a group of people we are told represent "the Islamic world".
It is forbidden, amongst many muslims, to make any image of the prophet
Mohammad.
Now, before we go all off our rockers and condemn this purported
"Islamic world" for being crazy, we first have to examine our own
society. It was Jesus who is alleged to have said "It is easier for a
hypocrite to pick on someone else's religious beliefs than for a rich
man to drive a car through the eye of a needle."
Or something like that.
Does anyone remember Sinead O'Connor ripping up a picture of the Pope on
Saturday Night Live, declaring, "Fight the real enemy"? It was a long
time ago. There were mass gatherings in protest where people burned
piles of her CDs and other memorabilia. She was booed off the stage at
a concert shortly thereafter.
Or, if you want to be more local, some few of you might vaguely recall
that the "J" in Juice & Gin stands for "Jesse". Jesse once wrote a
tribute to a NUTS skiing event which began with, "And G*d said, let
there be snow." We received some vitriol for daring to offend god, God
and G*d for that one.
So we ought to have to take the large wooden chunks from our own eyes
before we criticize the motes in the eyes of others.
Did that newspaper, and those that followed it, have the right to
publish obviously offensive cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad and
stereotyping Muslims? Absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably, the answer
must be "yes". Any other answer is simply unacceptable in a free
society. Do believers of Islam have the right to boycott products from
the offending countries? Of course they do: their freedom is as
unequivocal even if their protest might not be effective. Do they have
the right to physically hurt human beings from those countries? Of
course not.
I'm not being "anti-islamic" when I say these things. This is simply
the basis of our society: all things are open to criticism. Galileo
was considered a blasphemer for his non earth-centred model of the solar
system. How many people died for criticizing the church's stance on
witchcraft before burning innocent women at the stake was finally
stopped? How many black slaves and white abolitionists had to "offend"
slave-approving whites - and suffer under lynch mobs and burning crosses
- before slavery was stopped?
We can not afford to make laws that prohibit people from offending each
other's sensibilities. That would be called "dogma" and it's the most
dangerous thing in the world. Dogma leads to Inquisitions, Crusades,
Jihads, Holocausts and Genocides of all types. When you surrender your
right to hear all criticisms, you become a slave to an unchanging ideology.
So, in this country, you can criticize anything. You can come up from
Kansas and parade in front of the Supreme Court declaring Canada to be a
"Fag Nation". We'll let you. You can try to deny the shape of the
earth or, more regrettably, the Holocaust. We'll let you. You'll find
you're going to get ignored a lot, and shouted down the rest of the
time, but we have no laws prohibiting the stupidest and most ignorant of
speech. And you know what? It works for us. The stupidity is out in
the broad light of day where we can heckle it for what it is.
Where I have issue, however, is with the stated goal of various European
newspapers as they print a whole set of caricatures they know will
offend Muslims. They are attempting, they claim, to take a stand for
free speech. Really? Then why are you printing only cartoons regarding
provocative opinions of Islam? If the point is that you are entitled to
offend anyone's religion, why not a montage offending every religion?
Why not throw in a picture of Pope Benedict keeping condoms away from
the HIV-infected masses in Africa? Why not throw in some snide
commentary about expanding Israeli settlements in Palestine? It's not
quite clear to me what would offend Hindus and Sikhs, but I'm sure
someone could think of something involving cows and turbans.
I'll start buying this "in the name of free speech" argument when you
start offending everyone, not just the easy targets.
Greg.
[Send responses to DTKs or new Editorials to nutsinfo$yahoo.ca]
**********
* Humour *
**********
[Forward any good jokes or interesting web sites you see to
nutsinfo$yahoo.ca]
[Disclaimer: The Humour Section may contain content that includes dirty
words, adult situations and jokes that make fun of politicians. Viewer
discretion is advised. --Ed.]
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Lost Grandpa
============
A small girl was lost at a large shopping mall.
She approached a uniformed policeman and said, "I've lost my grandpa!"
The officer asked, "What's he like?"
The little girl replied, "Crown Royal whisky and women with big breasts."
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* General Info *
****************
Contact the NUTS Committee:
nutsinfo$yahoo.ca
The NUTS Website is:
http://nutsevents.topcities.com
http://torpedo.ca.newbridge.com/mirror (for people within Alcatel)
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