I'm sure it is quite debatable whether or not Muslims are "mostly intolerant" in a way that sets them apart from the rest of humanity (I tend to think that everybody has some intolerance and prejudice regardless. However, it is true that an overwhelming majority of Arabs are Muslims, even to the point where the non-Muslim Arabs are a mere asterisk in the demographic logs. This is not surprising: Muhammad established Islam as the national religion of Arabia, and to this day, it is pretty much illegal to be non-Muslim in Saudi Arabia. Beyond Saudi Arabia, the Arab empire expanded with all its cultural baggage, including Muhammad's newly-created national religion, and a culture (which still persists) that provides severe penalties for an Arab converting to a non-Muslim religion or otherwise going off on their own in a religious sense.
Considering this morning's prohibitions on taking liquids onboard (after a terrorist plot was uncovered), I'm resisting temptation so far to place my bottle of 'Dew in my computer's cup holder.
Religion is the main cause in this case: it is a means to and end that is the domination of one religion to the exclusion of others. Religious motives are present in a lot of wars and conflicts throughout history. Sometimes it is a tool to the end, but too often it is the end itself. You can't deny the presence and power of religious zealots.
The main "action" of our country that offends the modern zealots is that our country does not share their religion, and the cultural output of our country does not fit the strict religious dictates. To make things even worse, we allow (in their view) way too much freedom in religious matters, and that we actually think that the Jewish people should not be exterminated.
"think the main 'beef' of the current wave of terrorism levelled against the west is the fact that we won't permit any state to democratically elect a regime that disagrees with privatisation of the local industry (read externalising profits so they come our way). When the people do try to improve their situation we destroy the movement"
Translation: you are referring to "democratic" regimes that have a fascist view toward the idea that private economic affairs should be controlled by the government (something that never improves the situation of the people)_. Can you name examples where you think the West has done this? I bet you will name Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela (recently under Chavez), Guatemala, Mossadegh's Iran, and South Vietnam.
Now, cross-reference these countries with the countries that are generate the terrorists. You will find very little overlap. Where you find overlap in Iran, if you check further you will find that the Mossadegh group in Iran ("nationalise industry") is/was secular and different from the hardline Muslim faction. If you consider Saudi Arabia as a source of terrorists, you will find a country that already DOES have government control of private industry. There's basically no connection between your explanation for terrorism and the actual terrorists.
"The Basque/ETA situation admittedly has a completely different historical context"
I was referring to the Madrid railway bombing perpetrated by Muslim terrorists. This is more "on topic". However, given that most bombings in Spain have been Basque related, I guess I can understand your confusion. As for your description of the main "beef" concerning the terrorists being particularly focused on defending totalitarian state-controlled models models of industrial management, that is so far from the mostly-religious goals of the Muslim terrorist groups as to be entirely off the page.
Do you mean "Tony Martin, the farmer who killed a criminal who broke into his house"? Why would I bring him up? I tend to evaulate "shooting burglar" situations differently from "fleeing and eluding police" situations, anyway.
" remember last time they shot an innocent brasilian IN THE BACK, and it was discovered months later, and with chance, that he wasnt a terrorist."
If you really remember, you will recall certain facts you left out, such as the man was fleeing from police. He created the dangerous situation. If you do such things, especially in a security-critical transportation environment, don't be surprised if you get shot.
"Or, you could say, until we stop bombing the shit out of/subjugating/exploiting the third world in general..."
That is quite simplistic. Did you realize that the main beef of the Madrid bombers was that Spain had driven out Muslim invaders hundreds of years ago? It's too easy to dismiss everything as "the oppressed Third World being forced to strike back at First World oppressors", especially if you subscribe to very simplistic Marxist world-views and lack critical thinking.
"Just Watch - the mid term elections this cycle will again be driven by raising the alert and fear level to drive voters into a panic, "Trust Our Imperious Leaders!" mode, no matter how corrupt, no matter how self-serving these alert levels are.
"
And when something DOES happen, and nobody ever passed on the "classified" knowledge to warn us, you'll be the first to blame the imperious leaders for laying down on the job. Why didn't he WARN us???.
"The Fearmongering must stop ! This is Stupid, Insulting, and Damaging to our Democracy!"
It has nothing to do with our democracy. Search Slashdot for the keyword "diebold" if you are worried about democracy.
"What possibly can Nokia offer me that iTunes doesn't already provide me?"
For one thing, they could offer standard-format files that aren't encrypted, so you could end up playing them on any digital music player out there. In other words, it is easy to think of a much better product that the one offered in iTunes (which is so useless due to the weird file format encryption that I stay away from it entirely). If Nokia improved on the iTunes weaknesses, it would truly be a "killer".
I'm listening right now to some. Sounds great. Yet again, I have normal human hearing. I know there are some of us with dog-like ears, and even one or two Kryptonians whose ears hear far beyond those of mortal men when under the yellow sun.
"When I can buy the music I want at a reasonable price with zero DRM (nada, none, zip... "
I got modded troll for pointing this out elsewhere in this news item, but you might want to try the new Napster. They allow up to three free, full listens to any of their tracks. There are many programs such as Freecorder out there that will let you record the songs when they play. Then you end up with nice, useful, unencumbered MP3 files.
BR
I'll never even consider iTunes as long as you pay more to "get less" in the form of encrypted non-standard-format music files that won't play on most players.
You can now sign up for Napster, and they give you up to 3 free plays of most of their stuff. Record using Freecorder or some similar software, and you've got an unemcumbered MP3.
They should go back to the drawing board on this one, and scrap whole idea of the megaton-mouse with 2 AA batteries, and find some way to do it with from 1 to 3 watch batteries.
"USB is great because it's a) universal....(think Braun toothbrushes) becomes"
Those USB toothbrushes are way kewl. Last week once, after I brushed my teeth, I got an email from a dental student in Thailand warning me about possible weakened enamel in one of my top molars.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sure it is quite debatable whether or not Muslims are "mostly intolerant" in a way that sets them apart from the rest of humanity (I tend to think that everybody has some intolerance and prejudice regardless. However, it is true that an overwhelming majority of Arabs are Muslims, even to the point where the non-Muslim Arabs are a mere asterisk in the demographic logs. This is not surprising: Muhammad established Islam as the national religion of Arabia, and to this day, it is pretty much illegal to be non-Muslim in Saudi Arabia. Beyond Saudi Arabia, the Arab empire expanded with all its cultural baggage, including Muhammad's newly-created national religion, and a culture (which still persists) that provides severe penalties for an Arab converting to a non-Muslim religion or otherwise going off on their own in a religious sense.
Considering this morning's prohibitions on taking liquids onboard (after a terrorist plot was uncovered), I'm resisting temptation so far to place my bottle of 'Dew in my computer's cup holder.
Religion is the main cause in this case: it is a means to and end that is the domination of one religion to the exclusion of others. Religious motives are present in a lot of wars and conflicts throughout history. Sometimes it is a tool to the end, but too often it is the end itself. You can't deny the presence and power of religious zealots.
The main "action" of our country that offends the modern zealots is that our country does not share their religion, and the cultural output of our country does not fit the strict religious dictates. To make things even worse, we allow (in their view) way too much freedom in religious matters, and that we actually think that the Jewish people should not be exterminated.
Translation: you are referring to "democratic" regimes that have a fascist view toward the idea that private economic affairs should be controlled by the government (something that never improves the situation of the people)_. Can you name examples where you think the West has done this? I bet you will name Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela (recently under Chavez), Guatemala, Mossadegh's Iran, and South Vietnam.
Now, cross-reference these countries with the countries that are generate the terrorists. You will find very little overlap. Where you find overlap in Iran, if you check further you will find that the Mossadegh group in Iran ("nationalise industry") is/was secular and different from the hardline Muslim faction. If you consider Saudi Arabia as a source of terrorists, you will find a country that already DOES have government control of private industry. There's basically no connection between your explanation for terrorism and the actual terrorists.
"The Basque/ETA situation admittedly has a completely different historical context"
I was referring to the Madrid railway bombing perpetrated by Muslim terrorists. This is more "on topic". However, given that most bombings in Spain have been Basque related, I guess I can understand your confusion. As for your description of the main "beef" concerning the terrorists being particularly focused on defending totalitarian state-controlled models models of industrial management, that is so far from the mostly-religious goals of the Muslim terrorist groups as to be entirely off the page.
google: madrid bombing motives moors
and look for references.
Do you mean "Tony Martin, the farmer who killed a criminal who broke into his house"? Why would I bring him up? I tend to evaulate "shooting burglar" situations differently from "fleeing and eluding police" situations, anyway.
" remember last time they shot an innocent brasilian IN THE BACK, and it was discovered months later, and with chance, that he wasnt a terrorist."
If you really remember, you will recall certain facts you left out, such as the man was fleeing from police. He created the dangerous situation. If you do such things, especially in a security-critical transportation environment, don't be surprised if you get shot.
"Or, you could say, until we stop bombing the shit out of/subjugating/exploiting the third world in general..."
That is quite simplistic. Did you realize that the main beef of the Madrid bombers was that Spain had driven out Muslim invaders hundreds of years ago? It's too easy to dismiss everything as "the oppressed Third World being forced to strike back at First World oppressors", especially if you subscribe to very simplistic Marxist world-views and lack critical thinking.
"Just Watch - the mid term elections this cycle will again be driven by raising the alert and fear level to drive voters into a panic, "Trust Our Imperious Leaders!" mode, no matter how corrupt, no matter how self-serving these alert levels are. "
And when something DOES happen, and nobody ever passed on the "classified" knowledge to warn us, you'll be the first to blame the imperious leaders for laying down on the job. Why didn't he WARN us???.
"The Fearmongering must stop ! This is Stupid, Insulting, and Damaging to our Democracy!"
It has nothing to do with our democracy. Search Slashdot for the keyword "diebold" if you are worried about democracy.
Not sure I've heard synth bass. Got a great synth bass track to recommend?
"What possibly can Nokia offer me that iTunes doesn't already provide me?"
For one thing, they could offer standard-format files that aren't encrypted, so you could end up playing them on any digital music player out there. In other words, it is easy to think of a much better product that the one offered in iTunes (which is so useless due to the weird file format encryption that I stay away from it entirely). If Nokia improved on the iTunes weaknesses, it would truly be a "killer".
"Yeah, just like "Virgin Superstore" was a "Tower Records" killer"
Could be. I've run across more Virgin Superstores that I have run across Tower's. Never seen a Sam Goody.
I'm listening right now to some. Sounds great. Yet again, I have normal human hearing. I know there are some of us with dog-like ears, and even one or two Kryptonians whose ears hear far beyond those of mortal men when under the yellow sun.
128k and higher MP3's will do just fine for lossless music: unless you have the super hearing of a dog or an alien from Krypton.
"When I can buy the music I want at a reasonable price with zero DRM (nada, none, zip... "
I got modded troll for pointing this out elsewhere in this news item, but you might want to try the new Napster. They allow up to three free, full listens to any of their tracks. There are many programs such as Freecorder out there that will let you record the songs when they play. Then you end up with nice, useful, unencumbered MP3 files.
BR I'll never even consider iTunes as long as you pay more to "get less" in the form of encrypted non-standard-format music files that won't play on most players.
You can now sign up for Napster, and they give you up to 3 free plays of most of their stuff. Record using Freecorder or some similar software, and you've got an unemcumbered MP3.
Read Stephen King's "Tommyknockers". You can do a lot of things if you go DC-only!
Enormous batteries turn a mouse into a moose.
They should go back to the drawing board on this one, and scrap whole idea of the megaton-mouse with 2 AA batteries, and find some way to do it with from 1 to 3 watch batteries.
It's just a cool pocket movie viewer at this time.
"It was when I found a wireless bluetooth toothpick in a Sharper Image catalog... That was when I decided to build the asylum."
"USB is great because it's a) universal ....(think Braun toothbrushes) becomes"
Those USB toothbrushes are way kewl. Last week once, after I brushed my teeth, I got an email from a dental student in Thailand warning me about possible weakened enamel in one of my top molars.
Those Carcassonne guys gave Ben Sisko more than his share of headaches.
Show me a game where you run around museums throwing grenades and shooting at Mozarts and Pavarotti monsters.
You insentive clod! The end of the world is a geographic location! Not everyone has been sold on the junk science of the round earth!