hate anger rage

[Bill Glasheen]

A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" — "God is great." They then held the head out before the camera.

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
And no religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you will join us,
And the world will be as one

- John Lennon

Anyone ever wonder why I'm all for separation of church and state? Why I don't want the ten commandments in my courts, nativity scenes on government property, and prayer in school?

Go ahead - form your theocracy. Hitler has many faces...

- Bill

[benzocaine]

Sounds like we need a little chemotherapy here.

Or how about a little Nuclear Medicine?

Of course I only mean debleted uranium shells

[Akil Todd Harvey]

If one American gets beheaded in Iraq, it is a tradegy, a travesty and something deserving of the most extreme form of retailiation, but if one Iraqi were found to have been killed brutally, in custody, while being interrogated, we shrug it off as simply an unavoidable consequence of war......Actually, more than 25 have died in custody under very suspicious circumstances, but we will be sure to slap the culprists on the wrist. American justice is about making the appearance of fairness and rule of law, but what happens more often than not is that a couple of mixed up idealistic neadratols will take the fall for those who know not what responsibility really means.

Commander-in-Chief, the buck stops where?

[Akil Todd Harvey]

And the night before they went out on the raid to put down the Iraqi freedom fighters, they all got together to take communion.....It was on the front page of the Newspaper the other day, how these grown guys were taking communion over there in Iraq, sure made it look like the crusade the GW said it would be......

And I read the other day that Karl Rove, George Bush's lead political advisor, gave the Commencement speech at Liberty University, known to be closely linked with the mainstream preacher, Jeryy Falwell........Who has such benevolent thoughts toward Muslims and Islam.......And I feel so much better now that I know that John, Iran Contra Scandal negroponte is going to be ambassador to Iraq.....That way we can start shredding the constitution of Iraq even before we start writing it.........By any means necessary is how we operate, but they better play nice or we won't like them.......

The Us has tweo sets of rules, one for itself and the other for the rest of the world......We are allowe3d to have any weapon we want and no one else is allowed to have those weapons.....We get to weaponize space, but no one else can......How long do we think that we can keep up this charade of fairness to the world?

GW.....You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cant fool all the people all the time......

[Bill Glasheen]

Engineering has a classic way to test for the dynamic characteristics of a system. It's done either by a step input or an impulse. It's equivalent to the guy that kicks the tire or slams the door on a car that he's thinking about buying. The nature of the system reveals itself through the step or impulse function response. A little Fourier magic turns gut feeling to pure mathematics and objective data.

I see your true colors
Shining through

Psychologists often apply the same principle via the Rorschacht test. Probe the psyche with a random pattern, and see what emerges.

I see your true colors
Shining through

So too will a people, or a nation, when tested, reveal its character.

So sad eyes
Discouraged now
Realize

When this world makes you crazy
And you’ve taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I’ll be there

And when you want to know the true nature of someone, see how that person reacts to tragedy or adversity. And see how that person reacts to the misfortune of others.

And I’ll see your true colors
Shining through

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Whistleblower asked mom's advice

"I could tell in his voice he was not sleeping," Blank, 45, recalls. "He said, 'I don't feel good.' And I said, 'You're not eating either, are you?' And he said, 'No, I haven't slept or ate.' "

She thought he might be in trouble. But he assured her he was not. "But let me ask you a question," he said, according to Blank. "If you knew something ... what would you do?"

His mother knew that whatever was bothering him was something important.

"I said, 'I would remain true to myself, because the truth sets you free. And truth triumphs over evil.' "

I see your true colors
Shining through

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Akil wrote...

And the night before they went out on the raid to put down the Iraqi freedom fighters, they all got together to take communion.....It was on the front page of the Newspaper the other day, how these grown guys were taking communion over there in Iraq, sure made it look like the crusade the GW said it would be......

In your interest at making a point (??), Akil, you missed the whole point. No bother...I never pass up a good teaching opportunity. This is a great segue to some work by two people I admire quite a bit - Bruce Siddle and Darren Laur.

As I said earlier, (Survival Stress Reaction) is an autonomic response, which happens without conscious thought. Having said this, Siddle in his research has found that a person can manage SSR to attain that peak 115-145 bpm (heart rate) range in the following ways:

...

7) Faith System:

* You do not want to go into combat without having things resolved

* Both the ancient samurai and the kamikaze's during WWII understood this important rule

* Even in our modern times, there are certain spec war teams around the world that are allowed to make peace with their deity prior to mission

* A strong faith system, whatever that faith system may be, MINIMIZES the fear of dying. As a graphic example of this, look at the events of September 11th and how the terrorists were not afraid to die and thus were able to carry out their mission. Also look at what is happening in Israel right now!

* Remember, combat is not the place for you to be making major adjustments to your belief system. You need to be concentrating on the task at hand and nothing else. Not to do so places yourself in jeopardy

...

- The Anatomy Of Fear and How It Relates To Survival Skills Training
By Darren Laur

- Bill

[cxt]

Akil

"the US has two sets of rules"

Really?

Like we are arresting the folks that took naked pictures of prisioners.

While at the same time our foes are be-heading THIER prisioners.

Is that two sets of rules???

Is it two sets of rules when the US provide food, shelter, time and location to pray, medicial treatment etc to OUR prisioners.

While our foes murder THEIR prisioners drag their bodies thu the streets, hang them up then BURN them--while crowds gather to have pictures taken??

Is that the kind of of thing you mean by two sets of rules??

Sorry man, that is the worst form of illogic.

I gotta ask though, since you don't think its right to have two sets of rules---are you in favor then of the US adopting the standards of the enemy??

So you would be OK with the US doing the same things??-Your always harping in how we dont' appraciate the culture context of our actions.

Hey, the torture and killing of prisioners is ACCEPTED practice in most of the middle east--its how our enemies do it.

In the interest of being fair, of "respecting culture" and NOT having a "double standard" are you now saying that the US should adopt the SAME tactics??

Hey, then we would all be on the same page.

Right???

Don't you think it would be better if EVERYONE involved (not just the US) made every effort to treat their prisioners in a decent fashion?

[cxt]

Akil

By the by its not really accurate to refer to the terrorists and craven murderers operating in Iraqi as "freedom fighters."

I think its more accurate to rfer to them as "insurgents" and in many cases "non native" insurgent as well.
Since we have found out that Iran ( Iraqis bitter enemy) is sending and bankrolling many of them.

You also have the agents of a fanatical cleric--who had a rival holy man murdered for daring to dis-agree with him.

Hard pressed to see either of these folks as ANY kind of "freedom fighter."

I suppose that also begs the question as to where these noble "freedom fighters" were while Saddam was butching his own people by the 100's of thouands over a 30 year period?? (any guess as to the death toll--I have a number for you if you want)

Where were these "freedom fighters" then??

Oh, wait--Saddam was a brutal madman who would torture and kill anyone who opposed him--that means that he would stop at NOTHING to destry the "freedom fighters."

Not like the US who generally treats its prisioners well.

Could it be that they were less "freedom fighters" and more along the lines of say, cowards, who feared Saddam to much to oppose him yet just are not as scared of the overall more kind US?

Another question for the supporter of the "freedom fighters."

Where were they during the brutal, invasion, sack and rape of Kuwait??

You would think that a real "freedom fighter" would be the first to stand up for his Arab/Muslium brother.

Yet again--nobody stood up to the invasion of Kuwuit--save or course the US and its allies.

Weird, don't you think, that no "freedom fighters" showed up to help fellow Musliums then.

[cxt]

Akil

Sorry to keep chaining this out like this--just trying to be through.

I find it odd that you have a problem with soldiers "taking communion" before a battle.

Odd in that you are always the first to point out that a individuals religion should not be taken as representing the whole of A religion.

There are MANY form of Chrsitainity that DON'T use "communion."

Are you singling out JUST the Catholics?
Or is it Christanity as a whole that you have seem to have a problem with??

Either way that does not seem at all fair or accurate.

No more accurate then defaming ALL of Islam for the actions of a few.

I honestly would have expected better from you on the topic of relgion--given that you are so very outspoken in the cause of not painting an entire religion for the acts of a few.

[Valkenar]

Akil

By the by its not really accurate to refer to the terrorists and craven murderers operating in Iraqi as "freedom fighters."

I guess it would be too much to hope he he meant the insurgents are "freedom fighters" the same way people who deal with burning buildings are fire fighters...

Not that I really think it's accurate to say that the U.S. forces are the embodiment of Freedom with a capital F, but I agree that describing the insurgents as "freedom fighters" is hyperbolic at the very least.

While I think Akil's focus on the soldiers taking communion is way off-base, I do I think it's worth acknowledging the religious intolerance aspect to all of this. Not because this war is exactly The Crusades 2004, but I do think that anti-islamic sentiment is a real issue.

To what extent does anyone else think Akil's points are real when taken apart from the presentation? What level of concern should we be reserving for these kinds of things?

And aside from the outrage on either, what does anyone think we should actually *do*?

[Bill Glasheen]

Good point, Justin.

I think the religious tension is unavoidable. We are predominantly (not exclusively) a Judeo-Christian nation, and Iraq is predominantly (not exclusively) a nation of Sunni and Shia Muslims. It's the white elephant in the room that some want to pretend isn't there. The religious tensions are further inflamed by Shia clerics such as al-Sadr who have their own militias and (allegedly) choose to murder other clerics critical of his point of view. And then there are the weapons stored in mosques... (check out the news in the last 24 hours) That's a recipe for disaster, no matter the ultimate outcome.

And then there is the issue of the minority Kurds vs. the minority Sunnis (in power with Hussein) vs. the majority Shia. Create a pure democracy and you have tyranny of the majority. A republic (such as is in our country) is more likely to protect the rights and interests of minority parties, but the Shia may bully their way to a government that favors a majority control.

Remember though that the Baath regime was secular. The temporary new constitution for Iraq states that the laws of the land will be based on the teachings of Islam. In my book, that says a lot.

- Bill

[cxt]

Valkenar

I realize that you used the "smile face" denoting a lack of seriousness.

But

The "freedom fighter" EQUALS "fire fighters" comparision just does not wash.

Fire Fighters risk life and limb in order to SAVE people from burning buildings.

The "freedom fighters" as Akil put it, actual BURN people.

In adddition,as has been pointed out, these "freedom fighters" (in many cases) have been shown to non-Iraqis--specifically Iranians, who you might remember to be Iraqs bitter and long term enemy.

Agents of a murderous religious fanatic--remember he had ANOTHER "holy man" slain for disagreeing with him.

Or, as in the most recent be-heading, folks linked to Al Qadia--again given the level repression, human rights abuses and various crimes commited by the Taliban in Agfganistan (not to mention Al Qadia)--not the most "freedom loving" of folks.

They are NOT "freedom fighters" by any rational use of the term.

I also think folks should be more careful of using the Crusades as an example or even to make a point--not just because it was a such a long time ago.

Please remember that Islamic armies invaded the west first.

So the first, large scale "crusade" was an Islamic invasion of the west--not vice versa.

[Bill Glasheen]

cxt

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Justin came up with a very clever play on language.

Fire fighters fight fire. Do freedom fighters fight freedom?

Oooohhhhh... Never mind!

- Bill

[cxt]

Bill

Which is why I said I noticed it.

And why I did a turn of phrase as well.