using the yazidi calendar as a reference in print is no less absurd than claiming that the world is 6000 years old, or whatever is, by calculating dates in the bible. if you would consider it irresponsible journalism to calculate the age of the earth in the bible, you should consider it just irresponsible to cite yazidi religious texts (which are actually mostly oral) in describing their origins.

the key is consistency. you should reject all religious references, not just the christian ones. you are not respecting a foreign culture, you are just engaging in irresponsible journalistic practices.

i'm not going to react to the decision to take a few thousand yazidis in. they're in perpetual threat, there. they don't have the numbers or the resources to stand their ground. so, this is an exception to my general rule of preferring to fund revolutionaries than accepting refugees.

but, can we be scientific in describing them rather than deferring to their superstitions, please?

their ethnogenesis, like that of other kurds, likely dates to the islamic invasion c. 650. the kurds are essentially iranian refugees of the islamic conquest. there were no "kurds" or "yazidis" a thousand years ago, there were just iranian refugees. those iranian refugees had a complex history of cultural syncretism from indigenous and introduced sources. the genetics suggest a strong indigenous matrilineal component, with large amounts of introduced variation (from iranians, greeks, turks, arabs) in the y-dna.

and, if you can't work that out, you shouldn't be given the responsibility of writing and publishing articles.

when obama signed the executive order on trans bathroom use, i argued that it was unnecessary (trans people never followed the existing laws in the first place) and would create a backlash. trans people do not need executive orders and rights that only exist on paper, so long as the society remains unwilling to accept. what trans people need is to continue to agitate for changes in social attitudes.

so, my only real reaction to trump cancelling the order is that obama set it up for him to cancel and that it really wasn't meaningful in the first place...

chantal's era - which ended quite a while ago - was a lot different in terms of the way that parties analyze data.

the liberals are going to want to measure things like turnout by ward, the size of the re-opening swing on the left and the ethnic composition of the vote. and, yes - it will provide plenty of valuable information for them to use to determine how they're doing with voters - even if none of the seats are actually in play.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/02/22/five-by-elections-wont-test-trudeau-but-they-do-mark-the-end-of-an-era-hbert.html

the actual reality with the pre-clearance agreement is that canada doesn't turn down extradition requests from the united states very often, anyways.

for most people, it's going to be hugely convenient. others may want to avoid us customs altogether. people need to know what they're getting themselves into and weigh the risks....

he's actually completely wrong, though.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/charter-will-protect-canadians-at-us-border-prescreening-trudeau-says/article34110849/

i did get some major cleaning over the last ten hours or so, but it hasn't really resolved the smell.

the truth is that my nose remains unable to discern between different smells, or even the existence of one. the coffee, the toast and the hallway all smell the same to me. but, i'm worried that the background smell of dank smoke has taken over the entire unit.

?

the reason is that the smell is closest to the ceiling, and in every direction. it's even in the farthest rooms, where smoke from two floors up and on the other side can't possibly be seeping in to. i'm almost willing to conclude that the direct upstairs neighbour (the obese one...) started smoking.

but, then again, i always thought he was a secret bathroom smoker.

the reality is that i can't react until my sense of smell returns. i can't even tell toast, coffee and smoke apart. i could be imagining the whole thing.

but, the other possibility is that the ceiling upstairs is still out, or is out in a different place. that would allow the smoke two floors up to invade the upstairs, and then seep down here.

for right now, all i can really say is that i'm not experiencing the turnover in the air that i was hoping i'd experience. the air feels like it's stuck in here, and the open windows aren't really helping much. i'm going to make it a point to turn the heat right off this afternoon.

i need to do some shopping today. it's going to be gorgeous out. i'm only at midday, but i'm a little sleepy, so i'm going to get a nap in, and go from there.

http://news.yale.edu/2006/09/26/elevated-testosterone-kills-nerve-cells

no gods / no masters, kids.

(yes, i know who marine le pen is, and, no, i don't agree with her on much, but she deserves a round of applause for standing her ground, here.)

no, for real.

i want to see a headline that says:

marine le pen courageously refuses to submit to sexist male cleric.

it's not her behaviour that is "inappropriate". what is "inappropriate" is the fucking patriarchy.

yeah, sure, lyin' brian.

what were you singing for, then?

those unmarked brown bags on the table?

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/former-pm-mulroney-i-wasn-t-singing-for-trump-1.3295333

i'm actually on her side, and think that it demonstrates the misogyny inherent in the religion.

the discussion here should not be about her refusal to wear a scarf, it should be about the insistence that she wear one. he has no right to tell her what to wear.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/france-s-le-pen-refuses-headscarf-to-meet-lebanon-s-mufti-1.3294372