Monsieur Jacques d'Nalgar

Under a rock for the next two years.

Monsieur Jacques d’Nalgar is a working curmudgeon with a cat-killing curiosity in politics, religion, history, and other manifestations of irrational human behavior. He resides in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a semi-autonomous region of the United States (a waning political experiment on the third planet of a minor solar system in a remote corner of the Milky Way galaxy), with his wife and other assorted wildlife. ... Jacques is a son and grandson of Baptist preachers, missionaries and educators. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where his father was a school headmaster for more than 30 years (and before that, a B-17 navigator in the last months of WW2). He grew up in the Middle East during the turbulent 50s, 60s, and 70s, but left just before Lebanon’s 15-year civil war nightmare began in earnest. Most reputable historians do not associate the onset of that tragic conflict with his departure. He returned for a visit in 1978, three years into the conflict. His right eye still occasionally twitches as a result. ... After colleges in Oklahoma and 16 years working for a company now forever identified with war profiteering and the dark lord Darth Cheney, he moved his family to Hot Springs in 1994. Jacques spends most of his time reading, blogging under a barely-disguised snotty “Freedom Fries” pseudonym, and staring at the sun. He works tirelessly for the OAFS (Obsessive Alliteration-Fondness Syndrome) Foundation, as both its only benefactor and sole beneficiary... Jacques’ political pilgrimage has meandered across much of the regressive-to-progressive continuum. Once a staunch conservative, he found himself suddenly adrift in left field when the rest of the country lurched hard-right after 9-11. He is a frequent critic of our national love affair with wars, rampant nationalism in general, and the resurgent, xenophobic frenzy that masquerades as patriotism ... He once defined his religious confession as Zen Baptist, a burgeoning movement (of one) within the Southern Baptist Convention, seeking to reclaim the mantle of Christian orthodoxy from fevered fundamentalists just itching for Armageddon. When evangelicals embraced the tangerine wankmaggot Trump and rejected Jesus, he abandoned the family faith and warily embraced Episcopalians' peculiar cocktail of ancient traditions and progressive inclusion. Monsieur d’Nalgar may be reached by sending him your questions telepathically, or by sending him money. He prefers the latter.

Most commented posts

  1. Bane of fundamentalism — 10 comments
  2. An obituary — 10 comments
  3. What we should be talking about — 9 comments
  4. Climate change in Arkansas — 8 comments
  5. Some powerfully stupid stuff — 7 comments

Author's posts

Another myth done gone

The myth of tribal Libya By Alaa al-Ameri , Wednesday 30 March 2011 10.00 BST … In the last few weeks, the word “tribalism” has been used extensively in the context of the Libyan democratic uprising – a spectre looming over the country, embodying the devil we don’t know. This was first introduced into the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/31/another-myth-done-gone/

Fordson High School

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TY6Y_I_2iU[/tube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TY6Y_I_2iU “Fordson” is a feature length documentary film that follows four talented high school football players from Dearborn Michigan as they gear up for their big senior year rivalry game during the last ten days of Ramadan, a month when Muslims traditionally fast every day from sunrise to sundown. The story is set against …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/31/fordson-high-school/

Ignorance is fundamental

Florida pastor burns Koran in ‘execution’ By Guy Adams in Los Angeles, Wednesday, 23 March 2011 … A fundamentalist pastor who drew international attention to his tiny Florida church by threatening to mark the anniversary of 9/11 by burning copies of the Koran has finally followed through on his promise, several months late and with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/24/ignorance-is-fundamental/

Mangled pronunciations

Arabic, phlegm and the battle of Tarf al-Ghar By David Shariatmadari, Thursday 24 March 2011 11.00 GMT … Az Zawiyah. Sana’a. Benghazi. Over the last few months, western commentators have had to get to grips with an array of confusing new words. We can assume that pronunciation units have been working through the night to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/24/mangled-pronunciations/

Sorry means never

It’s Blair I feel really sorry for By Mark Steel, Wednesday, 23 March 2011 … Isn’t it marvellous that all these governments are determined to do “something” about Colonel Gaddafi? For example Hillary Clinton said she supported military action once the Arab League – made up of countries such as Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Saudi …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/23/sorry-means-never/

Worth more than boys

The sanctity of the soaring Qassam By Amira Hass, 00:56 23.03.11 … The Hamas authorities once again forgot that the neighbor/occupier to its east is crazy. Fact: Over Shabbat, Hamas’ military wing fired more than 50 mortar shells at Israel. Or perhaps it didn’t forget: Perhaps it merely thought the Palestinian people in Gaza were …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/23/worth-more-than-boys/

Morocco to Mesopotamia

Right across the Arab world, freedom is now a prospect By Robert Fisk, Tuesday, 22 March 2011 … In the dying days of the Ottoman empire, American diplomats – US consuls in Beirut, Jerusalem, Cairo and other cities – NGOs across the region and thousands of American missionaries, pleaded with the State Department and with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2011/03/22/morocco-to-mesopotamia/