Since when is being a white supremacist a bad thing?

[_Jersey Girl]

... No one wants haggis.

On a point of information, chairman:

I want haggis. It's good stuff! With neeps and tatties too.

I had haggis in a pub in Paisley. It was very good! I have a running thread in the Prison forum where I wrote about the whole trip. (The score so far). We've also got reports from the Appalachian Trail from Cam and good health and exercise tips from various posters. It's the most positive thread on the board.

Check it out.

[_Molok]

Then why were the best weapons made in Europe?

Excuse me? The greatest weapon ever designed, the Trebuchet, originated in China.

[_Gunnar]

So you say, Herr Gunnar.

Need I remind you that the resourceful Scots have Haggis? And there's the shortbread and whiskey.

Not to mention tribal Scots in kilts. Behold (if you're not too scared) the power of Clanadonia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvMSDFJO7SI

So there.

Yuck! Haggis sounds even more disgusting than lutefisk! I have to admit, though, I have never tried it so I can't fairly judge it. To be honest, I haven't always liked lutefisk. Until I finally tasted lutefisk that was properly prepared, I had a low opinion of it. I now like it, and look forward to having it again. I actually have little doubt that I would even like haggis, once I have an opportunity and build up enough nerve to try it.

All joking aside, though, I love sampling and experiencing various cultures and ethnic foods. I love Scandinavian festivals, of course, because of my own heritage, and the cultural activities and culinary experiences that go with it, but I also love participating in and learning from other ethnic cultural activities. I love the video you linked to about that Scotish festival. I am fortunate enough to live in an area that has a wide variety ethnic traditions that are celebrated at various times of the year. We have our local Sons of Norway chapter (of which I am I member), and a fairly big annual Scandinavian festival in Sacramento. We also have a Chinese Bok Kai (New Years) celebration nearby every year, an annual Sikh festival featuring the best of Indian Cusine and crafts that is large enough and famous enought to attract attendees from as far away as India, Japanese, Irish, German, Scottish, Latin American, African and a number of other festivities celebrating their unique cultures within easy driving distance from my home. I have never attended one I didn't love! They are a lot of fun, and I enjoy learning from them all. And, of course, festivals celebrating the various, good old regional American cultures and traditions are not to be slighted!

Speaking, again, of lutefisk, there is an amusing story in a book about lutefisk I just read, about how St. Patrick finally rid Ireland of Norwegians. The Irish hated the Norwegian invaders because they caught and consumed so much of the fish from the local fishing areas, that the Irish were in danger of starving, so they were forced to start subsisting on potatoes. Unfortunately, the Norwegians also loved potatoes in excess. First, St. Patrick encouraged and organized a campaign to sabotage all the power plants, so the Norwegians would not have enough electricity to run their refrigerators, causing their fish to spoil. This failed because it turned out that Norwegians didn't mind rotten fish. Next, St. Patrick had people sneak into Norwegian caves and pour lye on their fish. This converted the fish into lutefisk, and the Norwegians liked that too! Finally, St. Patrick just told the Norwegians to go to hell. This worked! All the Norwegians immediately moved to Minnesota.

This and other interesting facts and myths about lutefisk can be found in The Last Word on Lutefisk, True Tales of Cod and Tradition, by Gary Legwold. It is a fun and well written book!

[_Res Ipsa]

Haggis is da bomb.

[_Jersey Girl]

Haggis is da bomb.

It was pretty darn tasty. Someone here (you know who you are) encouraged me to try it and I said no way that was happening in my life. But then there I was sitting at the table in the Pub with a relative who had it, offered it to me, I hesitated for a moment and said "Give it to me" and it tasted just fine!

Kind of like the time we were in the gasthaus in Germany where we used to eat and drink after work when a German friend invited me to try Sauer Fritz. As a result of a German drinking game, one round of schnapps for every beer, knock on the table and knock it back, I ended up drinking several.

But with the haggis, I didn't end up in a blind stupor puking my guts out off the bumper of my cute little VW in the parking lot.

[_MeDotOrg]

Ajax moments before he clicks on stormfront:



- Doc

There is a book I would recommend: Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. It is one of the favorite book of Bill Gates, among others. It is a fascinating study of how geographical barriers and lack of access to things like animals capable of domestication influenced the development of civilizations. (If you think you're a good cowboy, try riding a zebra).

One of the most illuminating books I've ever read. Highly recommended.

[_Jersey Girl]

What a horribly sad yet topic-relevant piece.

DNA pioneer stripped of honors over 'reprehensible' race comments
By Rob Picheta, CNN

Updated 5:48 PM ET, Sun January 13, 2019

(CNN)A Nobel Prize-winning American scientist who co-discovered DNA has been stripped of his honorary titles at the laboratory he once led after repeating racist comments in a documentary.

James Watson, who discovered the double-helix structure of DNA alongside Francis Crick in the 1950s based on the work of British chemist Rosalind Franklin, said in a PBS film that genes cause a difference in intelligence between white and black people in IQ tests.

The 90-year-old's comments were labeled "reprehensible" by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) on New York's Long Island, where Watson had been the director from 1968 to 1993.

The laboratory said it "unequivocally rejects the unsubstantiated and reckless personal opinions Dr. James D. Watson expressed," noting the statements were "reprehensible [and] unsupported by science."

"The Laboratory condemns the misuse of science to justify prejudice," its statement added.

CNN has attempted to reach Watson for comment.

Watson had previously told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper in 2007 that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says not really."

The scientist added that while he hoped everyone was equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true."

Those comments led CSHL to relieve him of his administrative duties, but he retained his honorary titles until now.

While Watson apologized for the comments in 2007, he said in the PBS documentary "American Masters: Decoding Watson," which aired on 2 January, that his views had not changed.

The remarks are the latest in a series of racist and homophobic statements that have tainted Watson's career.

In 1997, Britain's Sunday Telegraph quoted him as saying that women should be allowed to abort a child for any reason, such as if a gene for homosexuality were found in the fetus.

During a lecture tour in 2000, he suggested there might be links between a person's weight and their level of ambition and between skin color and sexual prowess.

"That's why you have Latin lovers," he said, according to The Associated Press, which cited people who attended the lecture. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient."

And in a British TV documentary that aired in 2003, Watson suggested stupidity was a genetic disease that should be treated.


https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/13/health/j ... index.html

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

There is a book I would recommend: Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond. It is one of the favorite book of Bill Gates, among others. It is a fascinating study of how geographical barriers and lack of access to things like animals capable of domestication influenced the development of civilizations. (If you think you're a good cowboy, try riding a zebra).

One of the most illuminating books I've ever read. Highly recommended.

Yeah, I bought the first edition and read it twice. I've also read about a million opinion pieces about it since then; most of them aren't supportive of Diamond's ideas. I think the big takeaway, if I had to guess, is that Diamond is labelled something along the lines of an 'environmental determinist'.

At this point I can't tell if Diamond was onto something, or if the contrarians are being contrarian because they can't stand someone else being smarter than them.

To be honest, my personal view of human development pre-industrial age probably falls along the lines of 1) how populated is their civilization, 2) how much peaceful trade was allowed to occur between peoples, 3) how disease-resistant did you become over time, and 4) how well could you administer your territory in times of war and in times of peace.

That probably falls within Diamond's east-west/west-east view of human affairs, though.

- Doc

[_EAllusion]

Incidentally, my genetic testing came back as 100% European with 99.3% Northern European. I expect Ajax18 to bow to my superior blood.

[_moksha]

(If you think you're a good cowboy, try riding a zebra).

Kids, don't try this at home!




Q - Given that the zebra is both black and white (like penguins & pandas), what criteria would Ajax use to judge this animal?