Ask Not What Your ONT Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your ONT

Hello everybody! Nasty day today, heavy thunderstorms. At least all the nasty critters stay out of the rain.

Before we get started, would anyone like a drink?

A Real American Hero

The Real Life Rambo: The True Story of Roy Benavidez

“If the story of his heroism were a movie script, you would not believe it.” These words, spoken by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, are probably the best way to sum up Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez’s actions on May 2, 1968.

On that day, Benavidez carried out arguably one of the most incredible acts of bravery during the Vietnam War and in the annals of US Army history.

But who was Roy Benavidez, and what did he do in life to earn the title of the real-life Rambo?

Read the article to find out. Incredible man.

This Is Important

Why the Arab World Is Lost in an Emotional Nakba, and How We Keep It There

I know this is 10 years old, but it's even more true today.

But even if these practices exist everywhere, we should still be able to acknowledge that in some cultures the dominant voices openly promote honor/shame values and in a way that militates against liberal society and progress. Arab political culture, to take one example—despite some liberal voices, despite noble dissidents—tends to favor ascendancy through aggression, the politics of the “strong horse,” and the application of “Hama rules”—which all combine to produce a Middle East caught between prison and anarchy, between Sisi’s Egypt and al-Assad’s Syria. Our inability, however well-meaning, to discuss the role of honor-shame dynamics in the making of this political culture poses a dilemma: By keeping silent, we not only operate in denial, but we may actually strengthen these brutal values and weaken the very ones we treasure.
Few conflicts offer a better place to explore these matters than the Arab-Israeli conflict.

I often say “When someone tells you who they are, believe them”, and am baffled by people who can't seem to grasp this. The failure of the west to understand how the Arab world thinks is probably the most constant place I'm reminded of this. A must read article.

Diversity!

Cinco De Mayo Parade in Chicago Canceled as Explosive Fight Between Latin Kings and Rival Gang Satan’s Disciples Breaks Out in Broad Daylight

There is still a great deal of confusion surrounding what exactly happened to disrupt the parade.
At a glance, Sunday’s Cinco de Mayo parade was like any other. It was vibrant and colorful, with entertaining musical acts representing different parts of Mexico.
“We actually found it just walking to the National Mexican Art museum earlier,” parade attendee Jennifer Vasquez said. “We asked somebody earlier. We weren’t even aware it was happening.”
What many parade-goers failed to notice was the behind the scenes drama that began around a half hour before the parade was supposed to take off at Noon from Cemark Road from Damen Avenue in Heart of Chicago. It was supposed to traverse a 1.2 mile route, ending at Marshall Boulevard in Little Village, just south of Douglass Park. Instead, a large fight in the area of the parade led police to issue a cancelation notice.

There are Twitter clips with video embedded at the link.

The Science Is Settled

Smart People Believe Weird Things

“Students that scored well on these [science knowledge] tests were no more or less skeptical of pseudoscientific claims than students that scored very poorly. Apparently, the students were not able to apply their scientific knowledge to evaluate these pseudoscientific claims. We suggest that this inability stems in part from the way that science is traditionally presented to students: Students are taught what to think but not how to think.”

To attenuate these paranormal belief statistics, we need to teach that science is not a database of unconnected factoids but a set of methods designed to describe and interpret phenomena, past or present, aimed at building a testable body of knowledge open to rejection or confirmation.

For those lacking a fundamental comprehension of how science works, the siren song of pseudoscience becomes too alluring to resist, no matter how smart you are.

There is no quicker way for someone to reveal that they are an idiot than for them to say “The science is settled”. Science is never settled, all it is is an admission that they have no clue how the scientific method works, and a lame appeal to authority.

Opinion Piece

How David Brooks created Donald Trump

Yet the tea party movement was smeared as racist, denounced as fascist, harassed with impunity by the IRS and generally treated with contempt by the political establishment — and by pundits like Brooks, who declared "I'm not a fan of this movement." After handing the GOP big legislative victories in 2010 and 2014, it was largely betrayed by the Republicans in Congress, who broke their promises to shrink government and block Obama’s initiatives.

So now we have Trump instead, who tells people to punch counterprotesters instead of picking up their trash.

When politeness and orderliness are met with contempt and betrayal, do not be surprised if the response is something less polite, and less orderly. Brooks closes his Trump column with Psalm 73, but a more appropriate verse is Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” Trump’s ascendance is a symptom of a colossal failure among America’s political leaders, of which Brooks’ mean-spirited insularity is only a tiny part. God help us all.

The Tea Party was the polite response of citizens requesting that the government respect their desires. Trump is the rude response. I don't want to fathom what the next step will be, it goes to a pretty unpleasant place. Sic semper tyrannis

Kimchi

Here's a recipe for kimchi that somehow wound up in my ONT tabs

I'm not sure why. The recipe is for a lot of kimchi, I'm not sure what I'd do with that much.

Tonight's ONT has been brought to you by pure American baddassery:

posted by WeirdDave at 10:00 PM

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