(no subject)

I've seen this blog entry linked from various places, some of them on LJ. It's a little more sophisticated than some of the predictable comments on the Yahoo message boards, but it's still bullshit. This bit in particular:

And deep in the heart of every true Muslim, one that follows the word of Allah as spoken by Muhammed to the letter, they want us dead or gone.

It's the ones who don't follow the teachings strictly and have assimilated who show any sense of tolerance, understanding, or comprimise. They are the ones who we should tolerate.

Someone just doesn't get it, and from the sound of it neither do the people who are eagerly linking to this.

So the only true muslims are the people planting bombs and those who would, on some level, like to see us dead or gone? Right. Isn't that a bit like saying that the only true Christians are the ones who follow every crazy comment in Leviticus and have homicidal views on shellfish?

Some of the casualties were muslim, I'm sure. And, of course, there are the various speakers from mosques and the Muslim association of Britain who've been condemning this in no uncertain terms. By this logic, none of them are muslims either. Which is news to them, and probably more than a little insulting - since when did the Christians get to decide who is and isn't really a muslim? Hey, how about we let the Buddhists decide which branch of Christianity is the one true Christian path, then? Makes about as much sense.

Don't dignify these bastards by saying they're the only true muslims. That just helps to prop up their delusions of grandeur.

How about we say they're a bunch of murderous ratfucks who'll be spending the rest of their lives in a cosy British jail cell once the police catch up with them? 'Cos that sounds a lot better to me.

And just for variety, a film review - The Descent

Saw The Descent today, accompanied by the_g_man and jambon_gris. It's very good. It's also written and directed by Neil Marshall, the man behind Dog Soldiers. Which should give you some idea what it's like.

It's dark, it's grim, it's scary as hell and it's really very good. It doesn't have the army banter or the lighter moments of Dog Soldiers, mind you - instead it's claustrophobic, tense and likely to make you jump a few times. As the_g_man said afterwards, it's not a work of art and it's not groundbreaking - but it a very well crafted example of the horror/thriller genre, with some interesting touches.

The set-up, at the most basic level, is that six female friends go on a caving trip. It doesn't go well. I'm not giving much away if I say that something else is down there with them - although, as with any good horror film, it's often what you don't see that makes it work.

Good acting, some subtle plot points and, well... it's an interesting ending, too.

(I'll try to keep this post and its comments spoiler-free, but there might well be a second, more detailed one along for that side of things in a moment...)