I had a long Facebook chat tonight with a gal from Tehran who I somehow accidentally picked up as a FB friend (she was unaware of you, but I do have several FB friends in that region)
Her English was spotty though serviceable, but it was a nice conversation. Along the way, I mentioned your site as one that tries to explain Levant, Arabic, and Persian developments to Westerners. We talked about Omar Khayyam, and I mentioned that you're translating interesting passages.
She posted this one to her FB page. The bridge between America and the Indo-Persians just got another cable layed.
The Duke Lacrosse team is an excellent example. Also Shirley Sherrod. The 24 hour news cycle and social media means the Tribes immediately take sides before all the facts are in.
The big villain in this situation, in my opinion, is the "Stand Your Ground" law.
"The problem is, once you are raised in violence-loving American culture, guns are the only thing you respect. People in cities are ALWAYS more violent than people in suburbs and property-owning rural populations."
As a liberal and pro-gun control guy, that idea has some resonance with me. But is it true? Are there statistics that show urban folks are more violent, let's say per capita, than rural folks?
I'm genuinely curious. With all due respect, super390, This is one of these mind-bogglingly horrible, yet complicated situations where I think we should all be speaking from facts, not impressions.
I just don't want some eyewitness camera-phone video to come out showing Trayvon beating the crap out of Zimmerman. If we jump to conclusions that are wrong, you know the Right's gonna beat the crap out of us and nothing the Left says about racial profiling, or vigilantes, or Stand your Ground laws will have any credibility going forward.
"Trust, but Verify", to bend an old slogan into a shape it was never designed for.
This is the most exercised I've seen your writing in a while. You are absolutely right in drawing comparisons between historical garb and the weird exertions folks are making to justify Travis' shooting (the Sikh turban is especially galling to me.. that prejudice shows an extremely ignorant mindset. Do all Asians wear wide, conical hats?)
But I'm waiting to hear more about the Travis shooting. On the face of it, it seems that both the Left and the Right are making assumptions before a full investigation. On the Left, we see an over-eager racist gunning down a kid because he looked like a gangster. On the Right, they see a law-abiding vigilante (ignoring the oxymoron) trying to keep his neighborhood safe.
I'm just extremely suspicious that any of us have all the facts yet. And by vigorously pushing the racist line, we on the Left could be setting ourselves up for a huge embarrassment and loss of credibility.
Let the police do their investigation. Let cooler heads evaluate what happened on that horrible night. Then we can begin to discuss what this tragic event means.
© 2025 All Rights Reserved
Maryam, I think you can respond in Farsi to Dr. Cole. =)
Dr. Cole,
I had a long Facebook chat tonight with a gal from Tehran who I somehow accidentally picked up as a FB friend (she was unaware of you, but I do have several FB friends in that region)
Her English was spotty though serviceable, but it was a nice conversation. Along the way, I mentioned your site as one that tries to explain Levant, Arabic, and Persian developments to Westerners. We talked about Omar Khayyam, and I mentioned that you're translating interesting passages.
She posted this one to her FB page. The bridge between America and the Indo-Persians just got another cable layed.
The Duke Lacrosse team is an excellent example. Also Shirley Sherrod. The 24 hour news cycle and social media means the Tribes immediately take sides before all the facts are in.
The big villain in this situation, in my opinion, is the "Stand Your Ground" law.
"The problem is, once you are raised in violence-loving American culture, guns are the only thing you respect. People in cities are ALWAYS more violent than people in suburbs and property-owning rural populations."
As a liberal and pro-gun control guy, that idea has some resonance with me. But is it true? Are there statistics that show urban folks are more violent, let's say per capita, than rural folks?
I'm genuinely curious. With all due respect, super390, This is one of these mind-bogglingly horrible, yet complicated situations where I think we should all be speaking from facts, not impressions.
I just don't want some eyewitness camera-phone video to come out showing Trayvon beating the crap out of Zimmerman. If we jump to conclusions that are wrong, you know the Right's gonna beat the crap out of us and nothing the Left says about racial profiling, or vigilantes, or Stand your Ground laws will have any credibility going forward.
"Trust, but Verify", to bend an old slogan into a shape it was never designed for.
Well, I'm glad someone has the facts. So tell me, did Trayvon attack Zimmerman? Did he break his nose? I've been curious about that. Thanks.
That's a separate issue, actually. "Shooting an unarmed kid" is legal in "Stand your Ground" states, if you were scared of him.
This is the most exercised I've seen your writing in a while. You are absolutely right in drawing comparisons between historical garb and the weird exertions folks are making to justify Travis' shooting (the Sikh turban is especially galling to me.. that prejudice shows an extremely ignorant mindset. Do all Asians wear wide, conical hats?)
But I'm waiting to hear more about the Travis shooting. On the face of it, it seems that both the Left and the Right are making assumptions before a full investigation. On the Left, we see an over-eager racist gunning down a kid because he looked like a gangster. On the Right, they see a law-abiding vigilante (ignoring the oxymoron) trying to keep his neighborhood safe.
I'm just extremely suspicious that any of us have all the facts yet. And by vigorously pushing the racist line, we on the Left could be setting ourselves up for a huge embarrassment and loss of credibility.
Let the police do their investigation. Let cooler heads evaluate what happened on that horrible night. Then we can begin to discuss what this tragic event means.
"anyone buy" = "anyone but". Type in haste, regret at leisure.
If anyone buy Romney wins, the narrative will instantly turn to "Iowa doesn't matter any more". I'll bet $10,000.