That'd be from Ya Allah - Oh God - but used for all kinds of stuff including "hurry up, get moving". Yalla yalla, come on, we're late!
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:01 AM on July 24, 2008

The one below yalla is funny too - ahalan. I've never heard it from the jewish side of my family, but it sounds a lot like "ahlan" in Arabic which is short for "ahlan wa sahlan" meaning "welcome". Is that what this word means in Yiddish too?
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:04 AM on July 24, 2008

Timely post! Repairing plastic goods is the American Home Ec handicraft skill of the future. In poorer parts of the world, people routinely repair broken plastic stuff at home by - I dare not call it welding - melting other plastic onto it. Plastic buckets, racks, and other housewares are all repaired with other plastic bits. By trial and error people have learned what types of plastic works well for various repairs. For example: The plastic molded handle came... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 11:25 PM on July 20, 2008

...over the stuff stove...
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 11:36 PM on July 20, 2008

lupus_yonderboy - I heard that same joke told as muslims in a prayer line! Truly there is nothing new under the sun.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 11:13 PM on July 16, 2008

Some recent bloggage on the topic:

Islam in China - written by a Chinese muslim.

Anak Alam - A Malaysian's recent travels to a number of muslim regions in China:
Madaris of Yunan
Muslims in the Dust Bowl of China
Zhaotong Prefecture, Part 1 and Part... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 11:00 PM on July 16, 2008

The last link is not Gulen defending himself; it is written by Muhammed Çetin. It's a good read though:

Could it be that a certain view of the Muslim world as "backward," "downtrodden," and "stuck in the Middle Ages" is being challenged? The results show that the Muslim world is not on the wrong side of the great "digital divide." It has embraced this branch of modernity with zeal and competence. It is clear from these results... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:55 PM on July 3, 2008

UHT milk, which comes in sealed cartons that don't need refrigeration until they're opened. You can't tell the difference - it tastes exactly the same and it's so much more convenient.

No way does UHT milk taste the same! I can't drink it straight at all. My kids do, but they don't know any better, poor things. Those aseptic boxes the UHT milk comes in are probably worse for the environment too, since they aren't recyclable.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 1:20 AM on July 1, 2008

I was under the impression that the funky plasticky sheathing on the inside of those packs renders them unrecyclable. I'd be pleased if that's not the case. Still can't stomach the milk though.

Miko: And if American dairy farmers don't make that shift, heck, they can always go to India.

The milk in my fridge right now is from, no kidding, Inner Mongolia, PRC. Granted I'm in SE Asia, but it still seems like the unlikeliest... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 1:36 AM on July 1, 2008

Ok, so they are not worse for the environment over their lifecycle, as I had said, but they are tough to recycle:

In terms of shipping and fuel efficiency, especially over long distances, the lighter cartons are more environmentally friendly. "End of life management is where it has its struggles," she says.

Glad to hear it. I will now feel less guilty about buying my milk off the mongolian steppes.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 1:45 AM on July 1, 2008

Interesting, sfenders. I guess next up will be bargaining, no?

Stuck at Stage Two
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 9:20 PM on June 29, 2008

Gas prices around the country as percentage of income: far more meaningful than this national pop-density stuff.

Most Americans are spending a very modest 5% of income on petrol. How thinly stretched are Americans that a rise from 2-3% to 4-5% is busting everyone's wallets! My fuel costs jumped overnight from about 10% to about 15% of my income with Malaysia's national subsidy reduction a few weeks ago. Thus: Very Little Sympathy.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:38 PM on June 29, 2008

Etaoin, the Kunstler quotes are coming from his website.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:55 PM on June 25, 2008

brave pioneers seeking new lands or rootless cosmopolitans you can't count on

I struggle with that myself, but you know, having populations in diaspora has generally been good for the home country. Look at the role of emigre Indians in the Indian economy, for one example. Migrant workers - non-immigrant guest workers, I mean - generally are sending big bucks back home too. Plus, expat communities strengthen ties between the two countries and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:44 AM on June 11, 2008

One must be cautious not to earn over $82,400

Jeez, if I could earn over 82,400USD I'd throw caution to the wind and happily fork over tax due on the extra. Just wishful thinking on my part though, I'm afraid.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 3:01 AM on June 11, 2008

if I don't file. What are they going to do? Stop me from entering the US?

This is precisely what I worry about - they could call it tax evasion or something. I don't want to get whisked away at the airport. But it says that there is no penalty for filing late if you don't owe. So I figure I can always file the paperwork if/when they try to get nasty. As yet the fear of future hassle hasn't overcome the immediate hassle of filing now.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 3:20 AM on June 11, 2008

Its in your best interests to file, as IRS can only come back to you about information you've reported for three years. So once you do file, that clock is ticking. Don't file, and that avenue for hassle is still open.


Thanks, Mutant, that was useful information.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 4:10 AM on June 11, 2008

Give it back, already.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:31 AM on June 11, 2008

Thanks, Ubu, that was perfect timing. It's kiddie bedtime here, and I've got the whole house in boxes in front of relocating in two days, children's books and all. They're all in bed now. I couldn't see replacing story time with Dad with one of those movies as a regular thing, for the reasons Wolof describes, and because cuddling with the troops around a laptop isn't as warm and nice as doing it around a book, but in this case it was just the thing.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 6:29 AM on June 10, 2008

I enjoy sowing my seeds in fertile fields wherein they may perchance find purchase as much as the next guy, but that image is just ridiculous. Talk about killing a lovely old metaphor.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 7:07 PM on June 8, 2008

Just chiming in that "Black Muslim" isn't a very useful term because there is it could apply to both NOI and sunni blackamerican muslims, two very very different groups. Blackamerican sunni muslims way outnumber NOI in the US, but the term "Black Muslim" calls up NOI images in most people's mind.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 3:24 AM on May 31, 2008

Polygamy amongst American muslims is a regular and hotly-debated topic in the muslim blogosphere, along with marriage and divorce issues more generally. You could browse the archives of Tariq Nelson to get a taste.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 4:13 AM on May 31, 2008

black American converts who generally came to the religion later in life as opposed to black African Muslim immigrants

I like Prof Sherman Jackson's term blackamerican, which he uses to differentiate between American-origin black people and immigrants from Africa. His book Islam and the Blackamerican is very good. You might appreciate the sections dealing with the relationships between blackamerican muslims and the other muslim... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 7:11 AM on May 31, 2008

regardless of whether neophyte converts are able to quickly and entirely shed all of their previous negative behavior patterns.

Fantastic comment, The Straightener. Yes, that goes on. Another recommendation for further reading would be The Rise and Fall of the Salafi Dawah. That's a nine-part series - the link is to the final installment.

msalt - The NOI is not sunni or shia. They arose in the US with almost zero... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 6:33 PM on May 31, 2008

There aren't very good numbers on the muslim population in the US, but it is fair to assume the percentage of shia in the US is roughly their percentage in the muslim world as a whole, which is what, 10% or so? Something like that. In areas with many shia, there are shia masjids. The largest mosque in the US, which is in Dearborn, Michigan, is shia. In other parts of the country, they pray in the same mosques.

NOI is to Islam what Mormons are to Christianity? Yeah,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 3:58 AM on June 1, 2008

Bora's comment is excellent. See also: Collapse Preparedness - lessons from the USSR, linked on Metafilter some time ago.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 8:41 PM on May 22, 2008

Oh, I'm so sorry. Meant to give you the direct link, not my blog. Here it is.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 8:46 PM on May 22, 2008

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer: John Lee Hooker? Maybe not the drug you had in mind. He does describe getting high and stoned off the booze though.

How about Needle and Spoon by Savoy Brown? That's a good heroin tune:
If you get married you can divorce your wife/
but when you're married to H then you're married for life
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 5:51 AM on May 22, 2008

Cocaine by Eric Clapton, but that's too easy.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 5:54 AM on May 22, 2008

I don't suppose you want a Bob Marley discography either, but how about Easy Skanking from Kaya?
Excuse me while I light my spliff/
Oh God I got to take a lift/
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 6:02 AM on May 22, 2008

That doesn't bother me, because I don't think an American necessarily deserves to live better than a Chinese person by virtue of his birthplace

I think most people would define this as a basic function of government: making sure our people have it better than their people, from the smallest of us on up. Globalization will indeed lead to what you say - American lower classes having it as rough as lower... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 11:18 PM on May 19, 2008

Gotta be better than the Joneses, right? Or the Lees.

That's not really what I meant. I'm saying that your government's job is to protect your interests, not the interests of citizens of other governments. That's pretty fundamental. Now, could your best interests and the best interests of your trading partner or whatever line up? Yeah, of course. But frankly, I'm way suspicious of American free trade advocates whose heart... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 6:11 AM on May 20, 2008

Yes, The Gories! Saw them live at the Dally in the Alley, 1992. That's real rock and roll man.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 7:30 PM on May 19, 2008

Old Dally in the Alley posters, just for fun. The Gories played there a bunch of times.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:08 PM on May 19, 2008

How many innocents need to go first, in your calculus, before it is OK to take out a person crazy enough to get physical with a Federal agent? 2? 5? 9?

Really, how many dead people does it take, where you're concerned, to earn a bullet?

Milo: I understand my opponent supports the 55 miles per hour speed limit on our highways.

Opus: Saves 50,000 lives per year. I'm definitely in favor of saving lives!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:38 PM on May 14, 2008

How do you tell the difference between an oral and a rectal thermometer?





By the taste!


(Am I in the right thread?)
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 6:51 PM on May 14, 2008

How do you know you've had a hippie staying with you?
He's still there.^

***********

How do you get him to leave?
Give him gas money!

[True Story!]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 8:01 PM on May 13, 2008

Wow, that marriage decree is stunning! Great post.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 6:46 PM on May 12, 2008

I'd like to add that Islamic calligraphy is far from a fossil art. There are living masters producing phenomenal work up to the present day. Check out the websites of Mohammad Zakariya, an American calligrapher trained in Turkey (who I saw speak at the Detroit Institute of Arts), and Hajji Noor Deen, a master calligrapher from China. Both websites have a lot of content once you step inside. Check out their galleries: [MZ]... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 7:07 PM on May 12, 2008

Yeah? Not Sana Naveed, is it? She's got some lovely work too, like this tawiz.


On a related note, there's a wood-working calligraphy tradition in my area, most famous in Jepara, Indonesia where they produce calligraphy carved from teak. A lot of it is mass-produced and unsigned, more a craft than an art, but high-quality and gorgeous nonetheless. I haven't found a good link really, but here's a catalog of some of that stuff.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 8:38 PM on May 12, 2008

More on what's wrong with Michigan:

Michigan is mostly homogenously white except for big bad black Detroit. Half the state population lives in the Metro Detroit area where white flight and urban abandonment has been as thorough and devastating as practically anywhere else in the country. Year after year it ranks as the most segregated metropolis in America. Thus, winning elections is as simple as being tough on crime. Democrat Blanchard and Republican Engler... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 8:25 PM on May 5, 2008

Oh, fer cryin' out loud. They couldn't even re-use the TIRES???? Come on... I can't believe THAT.

Was that supposed to be a clever play on the fact that one of [Mazda-owner] Ford's most awful lawsuit fiascos was over defective Firestone tires? Because that was my first reading. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the sting of that whole affair that has made them this risk-averse.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:44 PM on April 29, 2008

Is there a different collective term for the Australians and New Zealanders who fought in WWII?
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:18 AM on April 25, 2008

Sparx - I get the joke, but I meant WW Two. I knew an interesting old Australian gentleman who fought in WWII, and I have referred to him as an ANZAC. I'm guessing now that isn't correct, and wonder if there is a proper term?
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:43 AM on April 25, 2008

Referred to him in conversations with other people, I mean. ...not to turn this into my own AskMe or anything, and thanks for helping!
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 12:48 AM on April 25, 2008

The problem is that population control has a long ugly history of being used as a weapon against the poor, that's what.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 1:23 AM on April 23, 2008

OF COURSE some people are richer than others. It's always been that way and it always will be.

OF COURSE people will reproduce as much as they feel able. It's always been that way and it always will be. Money is a rather more recent pursuit by comparison. Tell you what, bub, I'll go refresh myself on J-curves in my old ConBio textbook if you can find me an example of an organism that is not driven by the desire to reproduce. Don't get me wrong,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 4:53 AM on April 23, 2008

The country people always like to point to as the prime example of excessive consumption of natural resources also happens to be a large net exporter of food.

That's ancient history. The US is now close enough to the break-even point to dip into net import territory. In 2004/2005 the US had an agricultural trade deficit.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 7:58 PM on April 23, 2008

Well, yeah, I had heard it on the news somewhere back in 2004/5 and was stunned. I'm happy to take your word for it that it didn't happen, but the fact that it could easily have, that the margin is close enough to make it a possibility, is still shocking when you consider the position we were in for decades. Thanks for the fact check though.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 4:46 AM on April 24, 2008

Matt Taibbi wrote the best Thomas Friedman smackdown that anyone will ever write.

... and has been involved in a bit of extreme pie-throwing himself.
posted to MetaFilter by BinGregory at 10:27 PM on April 23, 2008