JayB

Alas, there is hope. Behold: http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/rex_murphy/human_rights_gone_awry.html

This appears to establish that Jay can't seem to fathom the possibility that there may be more than one set of motivating factors that influence different groups of actors in different locations or at different times. The fact that some may target Spain does not in any way disprove the idea that the way we are going about our War on Terror or our attempt to establish permanent bases in Iraq may motivate others. You're wasting your time arguing, Hugh. -------- Lets get back to the stimulus plan. Does anybody really think that a tax rebate is going to cure a bad economy? David Brooks said tonight that nothing like that has ever had any measurable influence on the economy (he might have said it did once back in 1950 or something). And Ron Paul last night put it this way: "they can print money and hand it out but this won't fix the fundamental problems with the economy." Paul was referring both to the interest cut AND the tax rebate. Its great that the Democrats and Republicans are falling all over each other to "get out in front" on this, but is this really anything more than pandering? Whadda you think, Jay? Will it work? My point *was* actually that different actors have different motives at different times, and this is especially true of the Islamists intentionally slaughtering as many civilians as they can around the globe in pursuit of whatever objective they deem worthy of jihad in whatever context they happen to be operating in. The men committing honor killings of their female relatives, the Chechen rebels plotting to detonate a school in Russia, the people threatening Sweden and or the artist who used the concept of Mohammad in a way that they didn't find appropriate, the fanatics on the frontier in Kashmir. Clearly they have different ends that they are pursuing for different motives, but their understanding of their religious faith is clearly a central concept around which they self-identify as a group, organize to attack whatever it is they are attacking, and find theological justification for their actions. This is not incidental. What spawns jihad and inspires plots for mass murder? The diversity of their causes, grievances, and targets is clearly quite variable. The guys who flew their planes into the World Trade Center clearly weren't upset over the notion of permanent bases in Iraq, and since the plot (like the previous attempt to blow up the towers under Clinton) was inspired by events prior the Bush presidency. What did Spain do to provoke the most recent plot? Follow the trial and perhaps you'll find your answer, but it won't be the ongoing presence of Spanish troops in Iraq. Even if they were only reacting to our moves, and had no agenda of our own inspired by factors that are rooted in their own convictions, history, and culture, the sheer variety of factors that have and will incite Islamist fanatics is such that it would be rather difficult to modify our values and policies in a manner that satisfies their demands or thwarts their anger. I have zero interest in living that way, or in living in a country where the citizenry aims to do so. This likely where we differ. Not a fan of the rebate.

India? Thailand? Seriously JayB you have no fucking clue what you are talking about here. 'Kay. 01/15/2008 10:25 THAILAND Bomb wounds 27 people in Southern Thailand The bomb strapped to a motorbike was exploded in the precinct of the crowded Yala market. Yesterday 8 soldiers were killed in an ambush on army troops, one of them beheaded. Since 2004, violence in the south has claimed over 2800 lives. Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) – At least 27 people were injured in an early morning bomb attack in Southern Thailand. Islamic rebels fighting for the independence of southern provinces are believed to be behind the explosion. Police sources report that the bomb was hidden on a motorbike which was parked in the precincts of the busy Yala market. The attack comes one day after another deadly episode: in Narathiwat province, 8 soldiers were killed in an armed ambush. On of them was beheaded. The troops had been escorting home group of teachers, who are often a favourite rebel target. Over 30 people, most of them civilians, have been beheaded in the 4 years of clashed, The aim seems to be to terrorise the local Buddhist population in the area. In the Southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, former Muslim sultanates, violence has increased over recent months and attacks are now a daily occurrence. The army – with a presence of over 30 thousand troops – and the police are unable to control the situation and warn Buddhists to avoid certain areas at risk. Islamists and rights groups accuse the Security forces of summary executions and the use of violence against the Muslim population. Since the beginning of 2004, the death toll has already exceeded 2,800.

Yup.

The fact that is that Islamists have been actively plotting mass-murder in France, Germany, and Canada despite their active opposition to the war in Iraq. They have continued to plot mass-murder in Spain, even after the voted in a leader who staked a large portion of his electoral campaign on getting their troops out of Iraq. This pretty well establishes that whatever they are motivated by, it's quite a bit larger than support for, or participation in the war in Iraq. Ditto for the slaughters perpetrated by Islamists in predominantly Muslim countries around the world, in India, Thailand, the Phillipines, etc, etc, etc, etc. As the events in response to the cartoons published in Denmark demonstrated quite clearly, the simple exercise of a basic liberty in a land thousands of miles away, in a language virtually none of them can speak, by a people living in as innocuous a state as one can imagine existing in any reality - was sufficient to "whack the hornets nest." Was Nasser guilty of the same? Sadat?

To answer KK: Colt-45 and lottery tickets...

Based on what I could see here at cc.com, from your wife's response to your illness, it sounds as though she is very cool, kind, and loving. If nothing else the contrast between her and the wretched hag featured in the article should make you feel pretty damned fortunate...

It's also clear that whatever his wife's faults - which appear to be staggering in both number and magnitude - he gets half the blame. If sex is a vital part of being alive for him, he should have either tried to communicate that to his wife, made an effort to cultivate their sex-life, etc - or insisted on either a divorce or openly taking a mistress. I also kind of wonder if the guy growing a pair and asserting himself wouldn't have corrected the loss of libido a bit, since doormats are seldom featured in the standard bodice ripper....

I think that goes for both sexes, no? We'd probably agree that there are some women out there in Hal's shoes, and that their husband's sexual neglect is profoundly painful and distressing for them. One of the basic obligations of a spouse is figuring out what kinds of things make your husband or wife feel loved and appreciated, and making an effort to do those things whether they are part of your natural inclinations or not - with the standard exceptions for things that are dangerous, criminal, degrading, etc. When a spouse refuses to make any effort to do so, that's a sign of not only selfishness, but open contempt and will pretty much kill off any love that the other partner feels for the other. In my case - having a clean house is a secondary priority at best, and gifts have never been that important to me. Neither is talking about my day. Listening to someone unpack their workday when they get home isn't natural either. And displaying affection with hugs or by saying nice things don't come naturally to me. They're important to my wife though, so I try to do all of the above every day. There are days when I'm more on top of things than others, but I recognize that I've got to make the effort, whether I feel like doing so or not. I can only imagine the response I'd get if I posted an article at ivilliage.com stating that I'd lost any interest I had in doing my share of the work required to keep the house clean, listening, showing affection, etc shortly after getting married - and expected my wife to accept this open display of contempt and persist in the relationship anyway....

In the realm of contemporary Middle Eastern history, my question was about as rudimentary as asking: 1)Who shot Lincoln? 2)What do you think inspired this person to do so. That it could seem otherwise to anyone who's chimed in on these topics frequently makes my point as well as any answer could.

No. I don't think that doing so would make such attacks less likely either, as the case of the violence that they were plotting in Spain and many other instances like it in France and other countries demonstrate quite clearly. This is because they have a positive agenda of their own that cannot be understood as simple reactions to Western foreign policy. I've answered your question, now you can answer a simple one of mine. Who attempted to assassinate Nasser in 1954, and what were there motives for doing so?

IMO the price per gallon than the net energy balance. Sounds pretty promising on that front as well.

So JayB when was the last time you actually talked to the "supporters" of terror? I did in May And you are *depriving* the State Department of the insights gleaned from the Yemeni goatherd who brought you your tea at the hotel? There's no shortage of books, speeches, documents, proclamations from Islamists available to the public. Ditto for scholarship based on all of the above. You seem to be arguing that it's impossible to understand the motivations, ideals, that motivate anyone based upon anything other than first-person interaction, which is as bizarre and illogical as the conceit behind your statement is humorous.

I've met enough supporters of islamic terror to know that white bread western boys don't know what the fuck they are talking about. You being the prime exemplar of the above?

The left's consensus diagnosis has been that Islamic terrorists are simply reacting against the contemporary foreign policies of Western powers, and that any other ideals or motivations that aren't derived from anger at these policies are either nonexistent or inconsequential. The Left's consensus prescription for eliminating Islamist terror has followed from this premise. Acknowledge the legitimacy of their grievances and modify your foreign policy to address them and thereby eliminate these "root-causes" of terrorism, and the factors that motivated them to attack you will disappear. This is consensus is profoundly mistaken, and the persistence of attacks like the one being plotted in Spain will bear this out.

The preference for dismissively reciting jokey articles of faith instead of addressing the question is quite revealing. Just what I'd expect given that the answers, were they given, would undermine many of the oft-articulated notions about the factors that inspire Islamist terror. Edited to except Jim from the above....

Yet they are still being actively targeted. Why do you think this is the case?

Another vote for spending time at a resort and practicing the downhill aspect of powder skiing there. There are quite a few resorts that have pseudo backcountry terrain which are never groomed, but are subject to avalanche control before being opened to the public. A day of lift served powder skiing will get you more practice than most people get in an entire season of backcountry skiing. Other people can speak to specific models better than I can, but you'll probably enjoy your time in the backcountry quite a bit more if you get a versatile, modern ski that's wide enough underfoot to perform well in powder. One model that does come to mind though, is the Rossignol Scratch BC. Everyone that has a pair seems to dig them, and they seem to handle everything pretty well. At your height and weight I don't think that you'd want to go lower than 180cm in terms of length with these, but other folks may think otherwise.

I personally hope that this incident will show the Spanish the error of their ways, and they'll pull their troops out of the Middle East, and substantially reform their imperialist policies. "Raids foiled Barcelona bomb plot, says judge Martin Hodgson and agencies Thursday January 24, 2008 The Guardian A group of alleged Islamist militants arrested in Barcelona at the weekend were planning a suicide bomb attack on the city's public transport system, a Spanish judge said yesterday. Twelve Pakistani and two Indian nationals were detained in a series of raids in the city on Sunday. After seven hours of questioning, Judge Ismael Moreno yesterday freed two of the men, but 10 suspects were held pending further investigation. All 10 deny any involvement in terrorism. Article continues Although the men have not been charged with any offence, the judge's order allows them to remain in jail while authorities gather more evidence. Moreno said the group was "very close" to "full technical capacity" in the production of explosives, and had already chosen three men to carry out the suicide attack, which was planned for last weekend. The three, named as Muhammad Shoaib, Mehmooh Khalib and Imran Cheema, arrived in Barcelona from Pakistan some time between October and mid-January, according to the judge, who said it was common for suicide attackers to arrive at their targeted site shortly before a planned attack. It was not clear which part of the public transport network was the target of the alleged plot. All of those arrested belong to Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamist party which Moreno accused of promoting the "indiscriminate" use of violence to attain political ends. In an operation led by the civil guard and the national intelligence agency, officers raided several apartments, two mosques and a bakery in the Raval neighbourhood, close to the Ramblas in the city centre. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, Spain's interior minister, said the intelligence services had acted with the help of information from foreign agencies, but it emerged in yesterday's hearing that the police had also received tip-offs from an informer. According to Moreno, officers discovered supplies of nitrocellulose, a highly flammable compound found in nail polish and varnish, which can also be used as an explosive. Local newspaper reports said intelligence officials based in Pakistan had warned the Spanish authorities that a known militant had left Pakistan for Barcelona to help launch a terrorist plot. Speaking after the arrests, Rubalcaba said that the detainees "belonged to a well-organized group that had gone a step beyond radicalisation". Photographs of material found in the raids included timing devices, a small bag of ball bearings, batteries and cables. "When someone has timers in their home, you have no option but to think violent acts are being planned," said Rubalcaba. With a general election set for March 9, Spain is on alert for terrorist attacks by Islamists or the Basque militant group ETA. On March 11 2004, 191 people were killed in Europe's worst terror attack when Islamists detonated bombs in four trains in Madrid three days before the last general election. Last year, 21 of 28 suspects tried for their role in the bombings were convicted of terrorism and other charges in connection with the bombings."

You are entitled to your opinion...provided the CHRC approves of it.

POS = Piece of...Something. I'm pretty sure I'm over the limit by a pretty fair amount as well, but the general plan was to ride the components into the ground since replacing any two of them would likely cost more than the bike is worth. Had some second thoughts until I looked at the pulleys on the deraileur, and saw that they looked like a couple of throwing stars. The teeth were actually sharp to the touch. Not sure what I'm going to do with the frame, which is also pretty well shot. Seems like kind of a shame to hacksaw it into chunks and recycle it, but I suspect that's the fate that awaits it.. What's the longest anyone's had a bike that they use consistently? This one lasted eight years, ~2.5 of which was for the occasional trail ride, the rest was for daily commuting. So - ~5.5 years of heavy use. Had to replace everything but the handlebars, the rear deraileur, and the frame/fork at least once.

Background... http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10499144 XUTFcgE1F7w o5dwUqCGJeE

What is the common perception of what corporations do with revenues that are not ultimately spent on pay/benefits, capital expenditures, distributed to shareholders as dividends, etc?

Impressive effort.

Not terribly appropos, but any Canadians who happen to click on this thread should feel free to chime in and disclose their feelings concerning the powers that the CHRC is exerting in the cases involving MaCleans and Western Standard....