sexual_chocolate

hmmmmm i think your argument is missing something....something is rather unpalatable about it....

And, without validating a process perhaps systemically maligned, one might spend a few minutes with a rather insightful view into the inner (well, more inner than much I come across in the vox populi) workings of an organization affecting the lives of perhaps every human on this planet. link

What is America? I'll admit to hating yes hating the actions of a very few who have the resources to mobilize all the apparati associated with this notion called "America", but beyond that? America is just a word, and I use it.

Total disintegration? Everything is fine. The Iraq war is fine, since they now have a democracy, and the dead-enders are on their last legs. Never mind that the women are wearing Burqas again; they probably prefer them. Never mind that extra-legal killings are occuring at a faster pace than ever under Saddam (he was a bad guy!). War on terrorism is fine. Jobless rate is down. Economy is fine. And finally: Never have relations with England and Poland been better!

Shameless (entirely!). She's had chronics climbing pain-free (myself included) within two or three treatments. The pain during the sessions makes up for it!

yeah you're right: prolly a herniated disc. hopefully it's not like ruptured already, cuz that's when the cancer really kicks in. darn herniated discs. you'd think it's an evolutionary bi-product or something.

Heh. After the advice and input from the doctors here, I'm glad you didn't go amputating. I bet you'll be back in no time. Ice and rest and heat and msm and chondroitin and ibuprofen and get some treatment on it, and you might even surprise yourself with some climbing on your trip (oh did I mention I know someone who does amazing physical therapy on such injuries? pm if you want info).

Or cancer.

Sheeit, and I was hoping for tacos with brains.

Please, keep us posted.

La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard shows what good presentation will do, and what gringos will pay for three bites of food. Suckas. Now if you want good real Mexican, check out the taco truck on Rainier and about four blocks north of Genesee. Or the one in Monroe after a day of climbing. Both have great adobada, asada, and way good salsas. (and having said that, La Carta is definitely my fave Mexican sit-down in Seattle, cuz I'm a sucka willing to pay.)

second ascent demos split boards, as does the ski place on 15th between interbay and queen anne (along with approach skis).

All the feedback I got was to avoid the burton locking system. Get the Prior board with the Voile locking system was the advice I got from multiple sources. Until an experienced rider said not to get a split board, but get shorty approach skis (110 cm) instead. His reasoning: -you get to ride the board you're used to -way cheaper -way faster skinning, and faster switch to downhill so i'll demo both set ups and then decide

Another funny thing about Iran is that the revolution occurred almost thirty years ago, and while they did move away from what many might call immoderacy, they have now taken a full swing back towards the revolutionary zeal of the Mullahs, and while one may find a taxi-cab driver and many others who would support the end of religious rule, do you really think this is the over-riding sentiment within the country? I really don't see "dissipation" at work; quite the opposite. Why is this? The political atrophy into self-protection mode in Iran coincided too closely with the emergence of a hostile foreign policy advocated by George Bush etal to think that the two had no correlation. Before this turn of events, I would agree that Iran was losing its hard-edge militancy to some degree, as evidenced by the temperament of their presidents throgh the '90's. It's unfortunate then that instead of supporting this positive change (internationally), the opportunity was squandered by a group of decidedly reactionary militants in the US in favor of a return to their own brand of Sharia. I was online playing a game of backgammon with someone from Iran (or so he said). After he discovered I was an "American", he became vitriolic, expressing much hatred towards not so much "Americans" as Bush. I tried to tell him that not everyone here is in favor of starting wars and killing people (he pointed to all the deaths of innocents in Iraq), but that did little to assuage his very personal fears of being "next in line". I did manage to convince him that it would be very unlikely that Bush would be attacking Iran, simply because of the mess he created in Iraq, which seemed to make sense to him. I then asked him why Ahmadinejad had won, to which he replied "we were scared". (So it works in other countries too.)

Do you really think Iran is a good example of the dissipatory nature of "fanaticism"? (I'll give you the benefit of the doubt regarding your usage of a highly subjective word....) I would tend to think that in this equation you overlook the inflammatory agents of cause, instead viewing the above example as a closed circuit (while ignoring the fact that the country in question is nearing nuclear capability). With your second point, I would agree that international cooperation, built upon the premises of, say the UN, can do great good. The problem I see with an expectation of benefit from the exploitation of a NATO model is that I don't believe the world model that you are an adherent of is facing a situation that is militarily addressable without turning society at large into a police state. Possibly I don't understand the role that NATO would play in your scenario, nor the threats you would see it responding to....Please expand? Third point question: Would you label the publishing of the cartoons as "defiance"?

And the fact that you still haven't answered questions asked of you seems to be answer enough. I hate to draw this conclusion, but I think your reluctance to respond to direct inquiries regarding your opinion on what appropriate responses to the situation that you find so offensive might be tends to indicate a mind that is more concerned with the protection and regurgitation of ideas centered upon adopted philosophies that have undergone minimal self-inquiry through methods devoid of the very type that led to the adoption of the ideas in the first place, rather than an honest and open inquiry into the very nature of the phenomenological reality that you are currently facing, or rather, all are facing. It seemed for a moment that perhaps you came close, but a view of the cliff-side drove you to the security of your inland forest of ideas.

Hey quit butting in. I'm still waiting for the solution to this whole mess.

What is your point with all this? Surely there must be some direction you are going with this, as far as a proposed solution?

Since I'm equally stumped regarding the point you are trying to make, perhaps you could enlighten us with an explanation high on specificity? (The nearest I can surmise is that no "reward" or concession should be "given" by the powers that be to those who threaten violence?)

What are your sources for the above chronology of events?"

A summit is a summit. 100' or 50' or 1000' or twenty minutes away or 10 minutes away is not a summit. Sorry. If I was close, but didn't actually summit, and I knew I didn't summit, for whatever reason, I would never claim an ascent of the mountain (and the naming rights to the mountain. Again, sorry....). It sounds like you guys had a good trip regardless though. Kudos on a fun outing.

What would be your examples supportive of this conclusion?

I don't understand your statement. First of all, how does my position ignore the peril of European criticizers of Muslims? And secondly, why the comparison to Christians? Is this an indication of a subtle perhaps unconscious belief that indeed Christians are more evolved/civilized/mature than Muslims as a whole, and should be treated as an example towards which other religions should progress? I do find the comparison strange.... So your theory is that the peeps are simply frightened? And if we weren't frightened, then we'd all become anti-muslim cartoonists for a Danish newspaper? Hmmm....Something seems amiss with this theory. I think I agree with this, but the problem is that the cartoons were like Dick Cheney hunting quail. And since they were so misguided, and furthermore published by a "right-wing provocateur" newspaper.... I think the article I read wasn't as clear as you make it out to be, and certainly not the authoritative text on the situation. I have come across information stating that indeed the newspaper was approached immediately after its publication of the cartoons, but refused to even listen to the involved parties. Because they refused to listen, the groups affected then approached the government, with the same result. Only after meeting an unresponsive wall of (perhaps arrogant?)resistance did the groups choose the path they did (did you really conclude from the article that the unpublished cartoons were said to be published? I didn't make that conclusion, but if indeed they were, yes it's a crappy type of conduct). So anyways, heres a take that somewhat differs from the WSJ take. Which is correct? I would tend to believe reality lies in the murky zone somewhere in between.... I think when a peoples feel ostracized/mistreated/oppressed/discriminated against, and see the situation as unaddressable within the parameters of the given context, naturally they will resort to more extreme measures. We have an entire world-history available to us as a learning tool for understanding this phenomenon. The appeal, I think, of the more "extreme" elements of Islam are a natural response to what Muslims see as a world-situation which disfavors them, and the results are becoming uglier and uglier. I think your idea of simply becoming even more rigid in response to this simply accelerates the process towards a most unfortunate and predictable conclusion. It's akin to fighting fire with gasoline. I think that dialogue and respect and a genuine interest in the concerns of another isn't a sign of weakness (as you seem to believe?), but of maturity and a willingness to actually work towards a solution. What do you think? And what are some approaches you would favor as potential solutions to this ongoing division seemingly between the "west" and Islam?

Ali wants protection, which she has (Theo refused it); I don't understand your suggestion, nor its relevance to this discussion; who is suggesting we ignore her plight? I don't think that Muslims as a whole have achieved power within Denmark which surpasses that of the Danish. I think you might agree, so again I don't understand your statement above. It is the non-muslim danes who are in power, so I don't think they need to worry about mediation from a position of weakness, imo. And the comparison between Hitler and Muslims is a bit inflammatory and misguided, don't you think? I'll leave this one for you to expand on, if you wish. I'm not familiar with the above correlation. Maybe you have an article or other source of information on this phenomenon. As to Poland, I'm not at all familiar with its intra-societal relations or general demographics, so for me to understand your citing of it as an example would require further knowledge on my part; perhaps you can tell me why it serves as an example for the point you were trying to make. As to suggestions in general: I think the Danish PM was misguided in his refusal to show any sympathy towards the muslim position. While I don't think he needed to apologize for the actions of an allegedly right-wing provocateur news-paper, he certainly could have met with the involved parties (I am not under the impression that the "radical" muslim groups can be marginalized by simply ignoring them; I think the world-wide reaction shows the level of attention they command). And as a final point: I have an affinity towards Trudeau's statements above. One doesn't need to be provocative to prove one can be provocative. We already know we have a free press, so why print some bad cartoons that are understood to be tasteless and offensive? Just to prove we can? How lacking in sound judgement and maturity. A like response is only to be expected....

I would start with the following background info on our esteemed Theo: A rather nasty fellow, in my eyes. Worthy of assasination? Of course not (I tend not to support assasination (or murder) in any form, whether capital "punishment" or organized war). I make no apologies for his killer, but when one actually sees that Theo was no saint martyred for his principles, but rather a rabble-rouser vindictively crucifying any and all with his pen, one begins to see that the murder didn't occur in a vacuum. And yes, his murder was a rather macabre affair. It seems his 26 year old killer was rather upset, pumping 8 bullets into his body, then stabbing away with a knife, and finally leaving a note pinned to his body with the same knife. And what is your point? That Muslims are out of control? I'd counter that both "sides" are out of control, with your implicit and explicit position only adding to this current state of affairs, hardening the polarization when some form of softening is what is needed (imo).