Nice.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
1. Norah Jones - "Feelin' The Same Way"
2. Van Halen - "Intruder"
3. Sir Edward Elgar - "Enigma Variations for Orchestra, Op. 36 'Nimrod'"
4. Def Leppard - "Don't Shoot Shotgun"
5. Dave Brubeck Quartet - "Kathy's Waltz"
6. Nat King Cole - "Fly Me To The Moon"
7. George Thorogood & The Destroyers - "I Drink Alone"
8. The Donnas - "Is That All You've Got For Me"
9. Yes - "Long Distance Runaround"
10. Pink Floyd - "Signs Of Life"

And I'm not ashamed of a single damn one of them.

This is fun. We should do this once a week. Lindsay Beyerstein used to have a Friday Random Ten for a long time, but discontinued it over a year ago. Too bad. Let's not let it end here.

1. Norah Jones - "Feelin' The Same Way"
2. Van Halen - "Intruder"
3. Sir Edward Elgar - "Enigma Variations for Orchestra, Op. 36 'Nimrod'"
4. Def Leppard - "Don't Shoot Shotgun"
5. Dave Brubeck Quartet - "Kathy's Waltz"
6. Nat King Cole - "Fly Me To The Moon"
7. George Thorogood & The Destroyers - "I Drink Alone"
8. The Donnas - "Is That All You've Got For Me"
9. Yes - "Long Distance Runaround"
10. Pink Floyd - "Signs Of Life"

And I'm not ashamed of a single damn one of them.

This is fun. We should do this once a week. Lindsay Beyerstein used to have a Friday Random Ten for a long time, but discontinued it over a year ago. Too bad. Let's not let it end here.

"As the pivotal intellect in the breaking of the German Enigma codes, Turing arguably made a greater contribution to defeating the Nazis than Eisenhower or Churchill. Thanks to Turing and his 'Ultra' colleagues at Bletchley Park, Allied generals in the field were consistently, over long periods of the war, privy to details German plans before the German generals had time to implement them. After the war, when Turing's role was no longer top secret, he should have been knighted and feted as a saviour of his nation. Instead, this gentle, stammering, eccentric genius was destroyed, for a 'crime', committed in private, which harmed nobody. Once again, the unmistakable trademark of the faith-based moralizer is to care passionately about what other people do (or even think) in private." -- The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins.

I hope that was plain satire.. if not cheer the hell up and get a cat or something.. gee wiz

In reply to this comment by thinker247:
My name is Hebrew for "no, me first!", I live in the City of Trees in the State of Potatoes in the Nation of Idiot Consumers with Oversized Guts, Vehicles and Homes and Undersized Minds, Common Sense and Pride in Anything Outside of their Own Xenophobic Limits.

I don't own a car, I don't own a home, I don't have a girlfriend, I don't have children, and I really have no desire for any of those things anytime soon.

I work for the capitalist monster named Wal-Mart, and I try not to burn it down every time I walk through the doors.

My ideal society is communist and socialist, with no room for capitalism.

My username is a joke that overestimates my necessity for overanalyzing everything that comes through my mortal mind. I have another username that goes by thinker246, which sums up my life's philosophy quite succinctly-- everybody needs a day off.

I am an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, hidden in a riddle, and an unknown quantity, even to myself.

I have no foreseeable goals, except to find a way to ignore humanity, yet survive amidst their numbers.

I'm a college drop-out, and if I get bored enough, one day I will become a life drop-out. Suicide doesn't scare me, but eternal ennui does.

I tend to ramble on during conversations and posts about myself.

I am a huge fan of Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, TOOL, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Doug Stanhope, Bill Maher, and anybody else who uses their brain for good instead of evil.

I would love to be a stand-up comedian and a writer.

I'm currently writing three books, without any direction for any of them. Don't look for them on your bookshelf anytime soon.

I love numbers and patterns, especially when you put them together.

If you want to know anything else about me...why? I just told you everything.

END

My name is Hebrew for "no, me first!", I live in the City of Trees in the State of Potatoes in the Nation of Idiot Consumers with Oversized Guts, Vehicles and Homes and Undersized Minds, Common Sense and Pride in Anything Outside of their Own Xenophobic Limits.

I don't own a car, I don't own a home, I don't have a girlfriend, I don't have children, and I really have no desire for any of those things anytime soon.

I work for the capitalist monster named Wal-Mart, and I try not to burn it down every time I walk through the doors.

My ideal society is communist and socialist, with no room for capitalism.

My username is a joke that overestimates my necessity for overanalyzing everything that comes through my mortal mind. I have another username that goes by thinker246, which sums up my life's philosophy quite succinctly-- everybody needs a day off.

I am an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, hidden in a riddle, and an unknown quantity, even to myself.

I have no foreseeable goals, except to find a way to ignore humanity, yet survive amidst their numbers.

I'm a college drop-out, and if I get bored enough, one day I will become a life drop-out. Suicide doesn't scare me, but eternal ennui does.

I tend to ramble on during conversations and posts about myself.

I am a huge fan of Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, TOOL, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Doug Stanhope, Bill Maher, and anybody else who uses their brain for good instead of evil.

I would love to be a stand-up comedian and a writer.

I'm currently writing three books, without any direction for any of them. Don't look for them on your bookshelf anytime soon.

I love numbers and patterns, especially when you put them together.

If you want to know anything else about me...why? I just told you everything.

END

aww thanks guys

>> ^Farhad2000:
save
I love Engima.


>> ^Zifnab:
Great save, I love Enigma as well.

Come now, Choggie. You've been reading my comments long enough to know that if I was trying to insult anyone, they'd know it. I posted this because it's a good resource for people who still have family/friends who think Obama is a Muslim.

I was raised in an immediate family that practiced Islam, but all my extended family stateside are evangelical Christians. Even though they've been around me all my life, they still wouldn't vote for a Muslim. I imagine I'm not alone in having family members like this, so I posted this website so people could pass it along to "thems that needs it." I specifically picked it because it has all the requisite documentation.

In other words, it was a resource for Sifters to use in combating the ignorance of those that aren't so enlightened as yourself.

In reply to this comment by choggie:
Is he a mystery, enigma, or a dubious consort.....mostly.
Does anyone here on the sift besides perhaps QM give a fiddler's fuck if he's a Muslim? Probably not, so why the post?? Most folks here are smart enough to have already figured out the answer to the question posed.....so, are you trying to insult us??

Is Obama suited, given the current geopolitical climate to govern this fucked-up country's government, after Bush/Clinto/Clinton//Bush/Bush/......
Fuck no...but Giant Iron Robot with Laser beam eyes, is.

Vote, Giant Iron Robot with Laser Beam Eyes, in 08'.

*"I am Giant Iron Robot with Laser Beam Eyes, and I approve of this puny human's message."

Is he a mystery, enigma, or a dubious consort.....mostly.
Does anyone here on the sift besides perhaps QM give a fiddler's fuck if he's a Muslim? Probably not, so why the post?? Most folks here are smart enough to have already figured out the answer to the question posed.....so, are you trying to insult us??

Is Obama suited, given the current geopolitical climate to govern this fucked-up country's government, after Bush/Clinto/Clinton//Bush/Bush/......
Fuck no...but Giant Iron Robot with Laser beam eyes, is.

Vote, Giant Iron Robot with Laser Beam Eyes, in 08'.

*"I am Giant Iron Robot with Laser Beam Eyes, and I approve of this puny human's message."

gotta roll with enigma-sucker for it whenever it reareth-

Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up McCain haters. You all just don't understand a true maverick when you see one (hint: it has nothing to do with Top Gun).

John McCain doesn't play by your rules, because he thinks out of the box, lives off the grid, calls 'em like he sees 'em dreams impossible dreams and lives in the moment.

-John McCain uses a hammer to eat his breakfast cereal and a spoon to hammer his nails.

-When going to the movies, John McCain buys 3 tickets and then just sits in the aisle for the duration of the film, growling at anyone who passes by.

-I once saw John McCain destroy a parking meter with his bare hands. He took all the dimes and nickels, but left the quarters.

-John McCain brushes his teeth with shaving cream; shaves his face with shampoo; washes his hair with with whipped butter and takes his bagels with a thin coating of his own semen.

-John McCain is a rebel, and a living tribute to American individuality; if Ayn Rand were still alive, she would try to stuff John McCain into her vagina in a vain attempt to assimilate his many powers.

You go ahead and spout your fancy words, trying to understand the enigma we've named John McCain, but John McCain has no use for fancy words or names, because words and names are merely labels, and mavericks have no use for labels.

Henceforth we shall call him Mhlellgbnhwyllxinoufrn, the messianic man-servant of creeping infinities.

>> ^kronosposeidon:
<deleted to end the argument>

Oh but... oh but...

xxovercastxx:
"I have not labeled anyone a "brainless dipshit" for liking this song. "
And
I specifically said I don't have any issue with people who like this song, so I'm starting to think you all just enjoy being offended and/or arguing.

Except that your original comment was You know how sometimes you have one of those moments where you just realize that you're surrounded by brainless dipshits? This song at the height of its success was the biggest such moment I can recall.

That's what sent us all off... You did label those who enjoy it as brainless dipshits via that comment, and that's what gave us cause for some 'discussion'.

Later you honed that comment to be more along the lines of that you hate people who suggest that this is a great song, which I tend to agree with, but at the same time if said people also enjoyed a wide range of music with integrity and artistic value as well, are they not allowed to think a simplistic, catchy tune is also great?

Still, I'll join in the lament of really great music not being appreciated by the masses, but enjoy listening to what I enjoy.

And to illustrate the point that I have no claim to 'great taste'... here is some of the artists on high rotation in my media player:
The Beatles, Metallica, VAST, The Waifs, Live, The Whitlams, Bryan Adams, Enigma, Chris Isaak, Barenaked Ladies, The Tea Party, David Gray, Green Day, Era, Bernard Fanning, Dave Matthews Band, Marcy Playground, Regina Spektor, INXS, Vivaldi, Pink, Missy Higgins, Meat Loaf, The Wallflowers.

See... in that small sample of what I enjoy I'm sure most people would have some that they'd go 'Nice' to, some they'd go 'Oh my god, how embarrassing', some they go 'Who?' and so on... everyone has different tastes, different RANGE of tastes. I enjoy many, many other artists than those few I just grabbed off my media player, and within them there are sure to be more cringe worthy artists, more 'who's, more 'nice'... let everyone enjoy the full range of what they enjoy.

Then, of course, there is the Enigma Toaster.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Secret-of-the-jesus-toast-revealed

Ah he actually talks about his girlfriend. She seems like such an enigma. She was on the F-word with him which was interesting to see, as well. But I guess those two are really protective of their privacy.

'Lyrical terrorist' sentenced over extremist poetry

A 23-year-old former Heathrow shop assistant who called herself the "lyrical terrorist" and scrawled her extremist thoughts on till receipts has been handed a nine-month suspended jail sentence.
Samina Malik became the first woman convicted under new terrorism legislation after writing poems entitled How To Behead and The Living Martyrs.

Malik, described as an "unlikely but committed" Islamic extremist, was last month convicted by an jury at the Old Bailey of a charge under the 2000 Terrorism Act.

She worked at WH Smith at Heathrow, where she scribbled her extremist lyrics on till receipts. On one she wrote: "The desire within me increases every day to go for martyrdom."

But Malik told the jury she only adopted her "lyrical terrorist" nickname because she thought it was "cool" and insisted: "I am not a terrorist."

Malik had tears in her eyes as she left the dock, while her mother wept during the court hearing. The judge said Malik's crime was on the "margins" of the offence of which she was found guilty. He said Malik was of "good character" and from a "supportive and law-abiding family who are appalled by the trouble that you are in".

"The Terrorism Act and the restrictions it imposes on the personal freedom exist to protect this country, its interests here and abroad, its citizens, and those who visit here. Its protection embraces us all. Its restrictions apply to us all, whatever our personal religious or political beliefs."

He told Malik that if she had been convicted of the more serious charge of possessing an article for terrorist purposes - of which the jury cleared her - she would have faced a jail term. But he said, while a custodial sentence was merited, she had already faced "extremely rigorous" bail conditions which were "tantamount to house arrest".

The court heard that she also spent five months in custody after being arrested in October last year. Malik's sentence was suspended for 18 months, with the condition that she be supervised for the whole period and undertake unpaid work.

Outside court Malik's solicitor Iqbal Ahmed read out a statement on her behalf. He said: "The trial process has been a terrible ordeal for her and she is now relieved that it is all over. The jury found that she did not have the material for terrorist purposes which was an important part of her case. She now wants to get on with her life."

Last month, Malik was found guilty of possessing records likely to be useful in terrorism by a majority of 10 to one. She cried as the verdict was read. Two female jurors were also in tears. The court heard that Malik stocked a "library" of material useful to terrorists at her family home in Southall, west London.

The court was told Malik was 20 years old when she "first started to consider Islam" and was "like most teenagers, somewhat rebellious". Malik had been interested in poetry, and had written love poems, followed by rap poems and later by "what can only be described as the distasteful poetry which has been mentioned in this trial".

John Burton, defending, said: "She became hooked on Abu Hamza-type addresses and that affected her mindset." The jury was told that she joined an extremist organisation called Jihad Way, set up explicitly to spread terrorist propaganda and support for al Qaida.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, told the court she visited a website linked to the jailed cleric Abu Hamza and stored material about weapons. The court also heard Malik belonged to a social networking website called hi5, describing her interests as "helping the mujaheddin in any way which I can".

Under favourite TV shows, she listed: "Watching videos by my Muslim brothers in Iraq, yep the beheading ones, watching video messages by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri and other videos which show massacres of the kaffirs." removed

After her conviction, Judge Peter Beaumont, the recorder of London, told her: "You have been, in many respects, a complete enigma to me."

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the decision by the judge to suspend the sentence. Inayat Bunglawala said: "It always seemed a rather bizarre decision to prosecute Samina when she is clearly not an actual terror plotter.

"Samina Malik was being prosecuted in effect for a thought crime because she had downloaded some material from the internet which anyone could download."
Mr Bunglawala said the case demonstrated how ill-conceived and "incredibly broad-ranging" the law is under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act. "Teenagers download some quite nihilistic material every day and they are not prosecuted," he said.

"The fact that this case went to court sends a very worrying signal that if you are Muslim and you are downloading from the Internet you may be judged to a quite different standard from others. Fortunately the judge has been sensible about this. The wider Muslim community must be relieved that she hasn't got a custodial sentence."

In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Samina Malik was not prosecuted for writing poetry. Ms Malik was convicted of collecting information, without reasonable excuse, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism."

MINK, you are an enigma.