Jim

Oh. The ends justifies the means. How orginal.

The distinction between 1 and 2 still has you stumped, eh? Do you find yourself immersed in the depths of an equally unfathomable conundrum when you have to distinguish the person that accosts you on the street and asks you for a donation, and the person that demands it at knifepoint? Try and hop aboard the logic train here instead of straining for analogies. If they can publish one, why not hte other. Should be equal opportunity insults. Better yet, they made the correct choice the first time and should have done the same the second time. Your caught in your usual trap of linking amoral results (the riots) with equally amoral sparks (publishing the cartoons). Because of the intolerant reaction this somehow justifies the publication of the cartoons. Certainly they had the right to publish the cartoons, but at the very least it was insensitive and in poor taste. They seemed to have no problem in making that decision regarding Christian values.

If you manage to read and listen to sources other than the WSJ and Rush, you'll see the following series of events: Danish paper refuses to publish Christ cartoons because they are in "poor taste and not funny" OK, I can go along with that. Same paper solicits Mohemmed cartoons as an exercise in free speech. Hmmmm...see above. Muslim clerics in Denmark as for audience with Danish paper editors - get snubbed. Given one and two above this seems odd. Muslim clerics meet with Danish government and are diplomatically told to take a hike. At a minimum this is a bad political decision. Handful of disgruntled Muslims put together a package that includes the published cartoons and others that were not published and go to the mideast to raise support and outrage. That they do. In their binder they note the distinction between what is publish and what is not - but the nonpublished cartoons were clearly included to aid their cause. Clerics get word out to an ever-growing radical element that charges up the masses. Repressive regimes, war in Iraq, lack of political and economic progress, stifiling poverty, an religous fervor all feed together to make this an easy pitch. The result - violence rather than protest is not an acceptable outcome. Understandable and maybe predictable, but unacceptable.

Gwladys Fouché Monday February 6, 2006 Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that have caused a storm of protest throughout the Islamic world, refused to run drawings lampooning Jesus Christ, it has emerged today. The Danish daily turned down the cartoons of Christ three years ago, on the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1703501,00.html#article_continue

Yea right. That's if you don't count the off-the-books 5 billion a month we're spending on the wars and the Katrina funding. Gimme a break. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0126/p01s03-usec.html

Grim. I was up at Snoqualmie this morning helping a school group out and it was the worst conditions I've ever skied on. The snow was frozen, and groommed or freshies was swept clean by the 45 mph winds. It was nice and sunny but grim for skiing. Gotta hunt out those powder stashes in the backcountry this weekend.

Agreed. The biggest problem is that the southeast US has very little land use planning regulations. So folks are just allowed to build in susceptible places. Good idea to place floating casinos there eh? Flood insurance is a whole different animal, generally only available through the feds (with some expensive exceptions). Lott chose not to pay it - too bad, so sad.

Thing is - he didn't have any flood insurance while living in a mapped V Zone - tidal flooding area, which would have cost a whopping $500 a year or so. Oh well.

Gotta love this. Want some cheese with that whine. Senator now just an upset homeowner It's a battle of titans. Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott is suing State Farm insurance to get them to pay for his hurricane-damaged home. Hurricane Katrina leveled Lott's 154-year-old waterfront home in Pascagoula, Mississippi, last August. The insurance giant says the storm surge destroyed the home, and since Lott didn't have flood insurance, he isn't entitled to a big payout. The house was worth $750,000. Lott got on the Senate floor in December, pounded his fist and said homeowners along the Gulf Coast are fed up, warning that insurance companies better do the right thing or there will be "hell to pay..." One of Lott's more colorful neighbors, Pete Floyd, is still finding some of Lott's personal effects in debris strewn throughout the neighborhood, including a Christmas photo of Lott and a silver plate Lott's daughter received as a wedding present. Floyd paid about $300 a year for flood insurance and received $130,000 dollars from his insurance company. We chased after both parties for interviews, but Lott's office says he isn't talking about this "personal" issue. State Farm isn't talking either, saying it is a matter of "litigation." In court filings, State Farm says precedent is on their side. It's a familiar scene being played out in courtrooms across the Gulf Coast.

Or you could just pull the plug on funding if you don't like the answer given by research. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/113937091617440.xml&coll=7

I wonder if Bush knew who CSK was.

You have just joined Dave_Shuldt as the only poster to achieve a negative score in my "Reflexive Western Self Loathing Sweepstakes." Very dissapointing so far, as Sexual_Chocolate and others who had potential scored goose-eggs with their entries. There are two clear frontrunners at the moment, but seeing as how Jim has yet to submit his entry, any final judgement would be premature. Seems simple. If you don't like the cartoon, don't read it or send a letter to the editor, or protest peacefully. Unfortunately I think this is another case of political oportunitism by a minority. Though I'm not sure of the orginal point of the contest: draw cartoons of Mohammed to test boundaries - I didn't think they were so provacative, but I'm not Muslim. Bottom line - protest, boycott, but threatening life and property is quite out of line.

Sataire is a sort of glass, wherin beholders do generally disscover everybody's face but their own - Johanthan Swift

Ouch!!!

There's some consolation. Our guys come home to Seattle, they have to go back to Pittsburg.

My kid can beat up your honor student Earth First - We'll log the other planets later

Interesting that Hamas has been elected, Iran has gone hard right, Chile and Argentina have gone more lefty, and other middle east monarchies have back-stepped from more democratic forums since our invasion of Iraq. So just where is freedom on the march?

Gets my vote as it's in walking distance. Got to finally get the scene behind the scenes.

A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake." Thomas Jefferson, following the passage of the Sedition Act. Sounds familar eh?

I was volunteering with a group of middle-schoolers at Snoqualmie on Friday when a couple of us stopped in the middle of a blue run to wait for others. We watched this dude-boarder for about 150 yds, come off the top, make a whobbily bee-line for us, and then head-first divot about ten feet upslope from us. Kinda like that buffalo scene in Dances with Wolves where the huge animal dies at the kid's feet.

As you'll be in my 'hood and I no longer have Tuesday evening class I'll have to stop by for introductions. Good place, friendly folks.

Hyak - XC trail up to top of ridge, trend west, head down any of runs east of Siver Fir chair. Take the cutback if needed. Quick loop workout and safe.

It was great to try out some new gear. Special thanks to the BD and Marmot folks that were very helpful. My 6 year old skis now look lame-o compared to what I was on last night. And there was some 8 inches of pow to be found on the ungroomed.

While completing my research in western Maryland and W. VA for a few years I had the privilege of becoming acquainted with a number of folks in the mining community. Some of them were brighter than others, like any group of folks. Sure they had less education but given the issues they dealt with you would choose mining as a career given the limited choices. If the economy ever does a total tank I would trust that these folks could fend for themselves better than your or I. They could fix anything - if they didn't have a part they would make it - including screws. These folks worked harder than almost any job I've known about. I was taken into a couple of deep mines (bat stuff) and whoa! - I would never want to do that work. What impressed me the most was their graciousness. A howdy, pat on the back, and always an invitation to dinner. W. VA is a poor state with little resources and limited opportunities. If you've ever had to work with you hands and back you appreciate that you've managed to move beyond that type of work but have a great deal of empathy for those less fortunate.

Here you go: To use the codes: Place your cursor in the location where you wish to insert a special character. Activate the numeric key pad on the right of the keyboard by pressing Num Lock (upper right of keyboard). The Num Lock light on the keyboard will indicate that the numeric key pad is on. NOTE: You must use the numeric key pad; if you use the number keys on the top of the keyboard, the characters will not appear. If you are on a laptop or computer without a separate numeric keypad one of the other methods is recommended. While pressing down the ALT key, type the four-digit code on the numeric key pad at the right edge of the keyboard. The codes are "case sensitive." For instance, the code for lower-case á is ALT+0225, but capital Á is ALT+0193. NOTE: If you have the International keyboard activated, you will only be able to input codes with the ALT key on the left side of the keyboard. Release the ALT key. The character will appear when the ALT key is released. NOTE: You must include the initial zero in the code. For example to insert á (0225) you must type ALT+0225, NOT ALT+225.