Posting Towards Gomorrah

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Spanky
You lost me.

Taxwonk claimed that Islam is the largest religion on the planet. This is wrong. There are about one billion Muslims (80% Sunni 20% Shia and other denominations). I believe there are over one Billion Catholics let alone all the other denominations. There might be as many as two billion Christians.

I realize I am a little slow but what has this got to do with your scoring system?

A lot of people, when tallying these things, count Catholics separately. those people would probably include the Pope.

Catholics worldwide are about 1.1M. Muslims total (shi'a and sunni) are approx 1.2M (the range is 900-1.4, depending on what numbers are beign cited).

[SlaveNoMore]

Shape Shifter
slave still hasn't said what was incorrect about the NYT's NIE piece from last Sunday

the NYTimes
hit piece can be summed up by one sentence therein:

"The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” said one American intelligence official. "

Now that we have all read the released NIE pages, its obvious to anyone - except you, perhaps - that this is hardly the main conclusion of the NIE Report.

Not only that, the Report offers no numbers to even back this up this one conclusory opinion. It also avoids the obvious point that there have been no stateside attacks since the beginning of the War

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I think I agree with everything you say here. Wowzer. Also, you remind of the Yeats poem, "The Second Coming":

• Turning and turning in the widening gyre
  The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
  Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
  Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
  The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
  The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
  The best lack all convictions, while the worst
  Are full of passionate intensity.

Smashing.

Whenever Yeats comes up, the Smiths run through my head. A nod to my alt-brit musical youth.....

"A dreaded sunny day, so I meet you at the cemetry gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side, while Wilde is on mine"

Although I am not as earnest as Wilde, nttawwt.

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop I don't think of the 9/11 attacks as "suicide bombing" because I think of the planes as having been passenger planes full of people, but I can see why their explosive qualities might lead you to think of them as bombs.

Bombs, plane-bombs, suicide bombs, to me its six of one, half dozen the other. The end result is a terrorist attack in the name of "God" commited by religions zealot/terrorists.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
the NYTimes
hit piece can be summed up by one sentence therein:

"The report “says that the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse,” said one American intelligence official. "

Now that we have all read the released NIE pages, its obvious to anyone - except you, perhaps - that this is hardly the main conclusion of the NIE Report.

Not only that, the Report offers no numbers to even back this up this one conclusory opinion. It also avoids the obvious point that there have been no stateside attacks since the beginning of the War

The NYTimes did not characterize that statement as the "main conclusion of the report." In fact, the NYTimes didn't even say that this is what the report said. The NYTimes quoted "one American intelligence official".

The released pages, moreover, support the statement that this was one of the conclusions reached by the report.

Presumbably, if the NYTimes had quoted British intelligence, you'd be okay with it -- right?

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
The NYTimes did not characterize that statement as the "main conclusion of the report." In fact, the NYTimes didn't even say that this is what the report said. The NYTimes quoted "one American intelligence official".

The released pages, moreover, support the statement that this was one of the conclusions reached by the report.

Presumbably, if the NYTimes had quoted British intelligence, you'd be okay with it -- right?

As long as it wasn;t under Jayson Blair's byline.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
Links here. More here.

Those are the goods?

"Send me a picture" and "what would you like for your birthday"?

Any given five minutes on the FB is more offensive than that. Sheesh.

[SlaveNoMore]

Sidd Finch
The NYTimes did not characterize that statement as the "main conclusion of the report." In fact, the NYTimes didn't even say that this is what the report said. The NYTimes quoted "one American intelligence official".

You've got to be kidding me.

Dude, the name of the article is "Spy agencies say Iraq War worsens terrorism threat."

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
If I am correctly informed, many many more Muslems believe that Islam forbids suicide bombing than believe that it permits or encourages it. What do you make of this?

Not much, because passive beliefs are not particularly helpful.

Tom Friedman had a very good piece (for him) in the NYTimes today, that talked about the need for Muslims to confront Muslims over extremism, bombings, murders, etc. I've said something similar on the board several times.

How many Muslims marched to protest some cartoons or some statement by the pope? How many -- even in countries where they are fully capable of organizing and of speaking freely -- have done the same in response to Muslim violence?

Sorry, but Slave and Penske are right on this one.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Those are the goods?

"Send me a picture" and "what would you like for your birthday"?

Any given five minutes on the FB is more offensive than that. Sheesh.

That's why Bilmore left the FB after he was elected to Congress.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Not much, because passive beliefs are not particularly helpful.

Tom Friedman had a very good piece (for him) in the NYTimes today, that talked about the need for Muslims to confront Muslims over extremism, bombings, murders, etc. I've said something similar on the board several times.

How many Muslims marched to protest some cartoons or some statement by the pope? How many -- even in countries where they are fully capable of organizing and of speaking freely -- have done the same in response to Muslim violence?

Sorry, but Slave and Penske are right on this one.

What do you think they're saying? Penske and I seem to agree.

As enchanted as I am about the prospect of once again arguing here about when it is that members of some large group have the responsibility to denounce other, extremist members of that large group, I'm going to have to pass. I said my piece when we argued about whether lacrosse players should be marching to protest the loutish behavior of Duke's lacrosse players, and again when we argued about whether prosecutors should be marching to protest the actions of the Durham DA, and I don't have anything to add on the subject.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
You've got to be kidding me.

Dude, the name of the article is "Spy agencies say Iraq War worsens terrorism threat."

Here's the NIE. Care to quote what it says about Iraq and terrorism?

http://www.odni.gov/press_releases/D..._Judgments.pdf

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Not much, because passive beliefs are not particularly helpful.

Tom Friedman had a very good piece (for him) in the NYTimes today, that talked about the need for Muslims to confront Muslims over extremism, bombings, murders, etc. I've said something similar on the board several times.

How many Muslims marched to protest some cartoons or some statement by the pope? How many -- even in countries where they are fully capable of organizing and of speaking freely -- have done the same in response to Muslim violence?

.

I just went to the men's room (but not before sending my secrtary to check for Vietnamese insurgents) and while I was peeing, I had a thought about this, which was and remains:

I would bet that there are more American Catholics who march and write and speak and advocate etc etc et al about how the Catholic church is wrong on birth control, abortion and women's "rights" to be priests than there are Moderate Muslims who protest etc. et al what's wrong with radical Islam.

Just a thought.

Originally posted by Sidd Finch


Sorry, but Slave and Penske are right....

New thread title?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Here's the NIE. Care to quote what it says about Iraq and terrorism?

http://www.odni.gov/press_releases/D..._Judgments.pdf

The key question for people to assess here is, are we safer now than we were six years ago?

The answer in this report is, no, and it's getting worse.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
You've got to be kidding me.

Dude, the name of the article is "Spy agencies say Iraq War worsens terrorism threat."

Dude, the report says things like:


We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere.

The Iraq conflict has become the "cause celebre" for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.



So, yeah -- the report says pretty much what the NYTimes said it does.


(Sorry, Shifty -- but you know and I know that Slave wouldn't quote it)

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
The key question for people to assess here is, are we safer now than we were six years ago?

The answer in this report is, no, and it's getting worse.

thanks to God, his son Jesus, the Second Amendment, and the economic expansion that has resulted from Bush's tax cuts, I have about a dozen new guns and a share interest in a private jet. I feel safer.