Now, if I glance ahead and see “Salaam A” at the end of a post, it becomes quite hard for me to continue reading the thread.
Excuse me, I seem to have a cold.
coughlinkcough
What is this, his sixth pitting? Ninth? He’s going to set a record.
I should, however, stop reading the thread when I see “Salaam A” at the end of a post. It would save my sanity from dissolving, my blood pressure from spiking and my hair from being torn out from the roots.
Post-modern brevity also includes not making a point?
Berkut, just run a search on Aldebaran. If you want your eyes, to, you know, flop about in your sockets whilst screaming like the slugs that don’t exist.
Maybe an Aldebaran pitting could be made a sticky.
He has some points, and I don’t find him more annoying then the other partisan people.
And he’s a fellow horse owner! That wins him points in my book.
Okay, okay, so I haven’t been reading whatever he’s posted in substantive discussions. Methinks I’ll stay away from that so I can enjoy the pleasant chitchat we’re having in MPSIMS on my particular obsession. 
Shallow? Self-centered? ME??? Whyever would you say so? 
Slight hijack, but any other hebrew speakers think that salaam allekem sounds like the hebrew equivalent of “goodbye to you all”?
Don’t “salaam” (Arabic) and “shalom” (Hebrew) both mean “peace”? They’re both Semitic languages, so they must have many words in common, or very similar.
Say what you will, but he is able to stimulate some interesting conversation and a bit of thinking. I think he knows when he’s twisting things a bit to be provocative, but I don’t think I’ve ever caught him doing it just for the fun of it. At least, it doesn’t seem so to me.
After my initial reaction of turning purple, grinding my teeth and reaching for the nitro glygerin tablets, I have learned to pay attention. When he is mistaken, I tell him what I think and he tells me why I am wrong. I hang onto what is worthwhile and let the rest go.
What is it that he does that manages to “get to you”? They says more about you than it does him.
He would make the short list of Dopers I would most like to meet.
The poor guy has two wives. What do you expect. You’d be driven to distraction too if you had to put up with two wives. And the thought of two mothers in law is terrifying. Give the poor guy a break and pity him.
Sorry Gadfly, I agree with Zoe. I’ve gained some different perspective from him and he makes me think. Funny at times too. Salaam A
Watch yourself now, you might bring peace to the Middle East.
I’ve agreed w/ Zoe prob’ly before Zoe did.
Except for the wanting to meet him part.
My list of Dopers I’d like to meet must be a little shorter.
I like Al. I suspect you’re pitting just for pitting’s sake.
I actually find Aldebaran, while slightly annoying when he feels he can get a dig in at the U.S., can be quite insightful when he forgets himself.
F’rinstance, in the What Went Wrong With Arab Culture? thread, he’s offered some very informative posts.
As far as his sig goes, how is it any more annoying than anyone else’s? He’s saying “Peace, Aldebaran”. Duh. I found Michael Ellis’s spoofing of it in this thread to be more annoying and mean-spirited than anything Aldebaran has to say.
For me, it’s his perpetual “You are refusing to see my point, so I suppose that debate here is impossible.” ploy whenever people disagree with him, plus his routine disavowal of statements that made, sometimes right in the same thread. He did both more than once in this thread and that’s just today’s example.
This is especially prevalent when he’s the only one on his side of an argument and when he’s putting forth illogical and simply false assertions, particularly about U.S. law and culture. To my knowledge, Aldebaran has never mentioned that he’s spent any significant period of time in the U.S. nor is he well versed in basic principles of U.S. law, but he routinely makes suggestions that run afoul of both and then gets huffy about having to backpedal (if he ever does) when those who know more than he point out his errors.
Most Dopers do their damnedest to play fair in GD threads, and it’s infuriating to contend with someone who doesn’t debate in good faith and routinely plays this very tiresome victim card in lieu of putting up a position and backing it up with something more substantive than their personal impressions of an issue – especially when those impressions are drawn from a continent away.
Yes, and “aleichem”(in Hebrew) and “alaikum”(in Arabic) both mean “on you”. So it’s something along the lines of “Peace on you”. Used as either “Hi” or “Goodbye”, I think.
So, Aldebaran gets your approval because he’s a muslim? [or so he says]
You think you get a lot of insightful information from him? Why would you think that? Have you checked other message-boards with real muslim posters?
I’d think twice before I put all my trust in a single poster on this board. That would be naïve.
As for pitting him; Like most of things said in this part of the SDMB; It’s no use whatsoever, imho.