Corralled all but one cat, dosed them with flea meds

Tommy has gotten *big*. He wasn't a particularly large adolescent kitten when we found him a few months ago, so the change in size is really dramatic. I attribute it to love, plenty of food, and doting neighbors who *also* give him love and plenty of food. This is a very cat friendly neighborhood.

He and Callie will now sometimes deign to be in the same room as each other, so long as they're on opposite sides of it. Whatever makes them happy.

*******************************

The Cold War May Be Over, but Its Decaying Relics Can Be Found All Over Europe

ISIS Is Ignoring Islam’s Teachings on Yazidis and Christians

(Not that they're likely to care, of course.)

Obama flips ISIS policy with strikes

Islamic State insurgents who seized Iraq's biggest dam in an offensive that has caused international consternation have brought in engineers for repairs, witnesses said on Saturday, as nervous Kurds stocked up on arms to defend their enclave nearby.

While U.S. Defends The Kurds With Airstrikes, It's Choking Off Needed Oil Revenue

15 Maps That Don't Explain the Middle East at All

The little seed library that could … get busted by a state ag department

Starting today, gluten-free has a legal definition.

After a yearlong compliance phase, the Food and Drug Administration now requires any food labeled “gluten-free,” “no gluten,” “free of gluten” and “without gluten” to meet all of the requirements of the official term, gluten-free.

How to best view Sunday’s supermoon, the biggest and brightest of 2014

Ukraine Considers Sanctions That Would Block the Flow of Gas from Russia

Ukraine says stops Russian troops invading, Moscow calls statement 'fairy tale'

Want to Use Public Wi-Fi in Russia? Let's See Some ID

Here’s How the Feds Are Teaming Up With Hackers to Save Us All from Robocalls

Nigerian army fights to push Boko Haram out of two northeast towns

Multinational companies halt projects in Ebola-infected countries

Ring Around the Rosie: Metafolklore, Rhyme and Reason

Photos of “Soldiers’ Inventories” Showcase 1,000 Years of Fighting Gear

Antisemitism on rise across Europe 'in worst times since the Nazis'

I shouldn't read the comments, but I do.

When I was a child, I thought that antisemitism was something that happened in the past, and then the Holocaust happened, and now we all knew better and there was no more antisemitism or genocide.

I was obviously wrong on both counts, but I was little and that's what I believed.

Apparently I'm not the only one who thought that, and if you read the comments on any article about rising antisemitism in Europe you begin to see three fairly consistent types of thought to reconcile "we all know better now (at least in the West)" with "rising antisemitism in Europe!".

Variation number one reads something like "Sure, people were bigots in the past, but Jews aren't really suffering that much now, and I don't know why they make such a big deal about the Holocaust anyway because even though it was awful it was in the past, and a few ugly incidents do not antisemitism make, and anyway, they're all doing pretty well except those weird ultrareligious ones, in Hollywood or the banks or whatever, they're not hurting or anything." (This argument is not at all strangely similar to "they control the banks and dominate the media", nope.)

Variation number two goes "That's totally not antisemitism, people are just upset about Israel! And really, it's their own fault for bombing Gaza!" (Yeah, right. Boycotting Israeli products until the situation in Gaza is resolved to your satisfaction is anti-Zionism. Bombing a synagogue in France isn't, no matter how hard you squint.)

And behind door number three we have a truly genius move of blaming it all on the Muslims, as in "We never had antisemitism here before, but now that those Muslims are moving in it's on the rise, but not because of us, it's them, those damn dirty Muslims." (If you point out the tiny percentage of Muslims in the home country of whoever it is spouting this charming idea, you get nothing but crickets.)

The advanced move, of course, is to combine the three arguments. Why is it all the fault of those barbaric Jew-hating Muslims? Because the Jews, who inordinately dominate the government and the media, really pushed for multiculturalism and now they're paying the price, and really, even a civilized person might get upset if their kindred were suffering in Gaza, and...!

And holy shit.

So this is why I read the comments. Yes, they're just on the internet, but somewhere on the other end of the net, somebody really is sitting there spewing out bile. When you read the articles, sometimes you think it's exaggeration, or scare tactics, or just a way to sell papers, but when you read the comments you start to think - holy shit, maybe antisemitism really is on the rise in Europe!

So thanks, random internet commenters. By being your normal vile selves you've managed to help me fully grasp the situation as it stands. Antisemitism is on the rise, and there's a heaping pile of Islamophobia as well.

Sheesh.