"root causes" of terrorism--part II

[Skeptic]

http://normangeras.blogspot.com/2003_11_23_normangeras_archive.html#10700292683501 7423

[a_unique_person]

LOL.

He also has this amazing piece of mathematical reasoning further up.



Your chocolate years

This is quick. Work it out as you read and don't cheat by looking ahead.

> Pick the number of times a week (greater than 1 and smaller than 10) that you'd like to have chocolate.
> Multiply by 2.
> Add 5.
> Multiply by 50. You may use a calculator.
> If you've already had your birthday this year, add 1753, and if you haven't, add 1752.
> Now subtract the four-digit year in which you were born.
> You should be left with a three-digit number.

The first digit was your original number - how many times you'd like to have chocolate each week. And the next two numbers give your age. 2003 is the only year it will ever work (apparently).



Maybe he should work on understanding basic mathematics before getting onto more advanced thinking.

[Yahweh]

Your chocolate years

This is quick. Work it out as you read and don't cheat by looking ahead.

> Pick the number of times a week (greater than 1 and smaller than 10) that you'd like to have chocolate.
> Multiply by 2.
> Add 5.
> Multiply by 50. You may use a calculator.
> If you've already had your birthday this year, add 1753, and if you haven't, add 1752.
> Now subtract the four-digit year in which you were born.
> You should be left with a three-digit number.

The first digit was your original number - how many times you'd like to have chocolate each week. And the next two numbers give your age. 2003 is the only year it will ever work (apparently).
516...

Wow, they're good...

[Mr Manifesto]

Has Skeptic joined the Billiefan2000 club- where members are required to start threads with a link only and no opinions?

[Dancing David]

I like this quote a lot:


Understanding the causes of terrorism is valuable, but we shouldn't pretend that it will give us a clear fix for our political problems. If it's not done with care and even-handedness, the search for root causes is liable just to provide us with a mirror of our current political prejudices. We set out to do better than moral condemnation, but end up by producing... moral condemnation, more dishonest because less overtly acknowledged.


My feelings are in agreement with much of what the author has to say, I think that there are multiple roots causes to terrorism. And maybe that would be a good thing to discuss:

1. Cultural beliefs that lead to terror as a weapon. This is especialy common in Africa for some reason, but has been seen in many political structures of punishment.

2. Actual groups which train paramilitary organizations, this is very true of the Afghan muhajadin, while they were clandestly trained by the US and others, they did practise a lot of terror.

3. Percieved power gaps and lack of participation in government, these are the things that ferment revolution of existing power structures. It would seem to me that terrorism should be called warfare.

4. Percieved differences between cultures and people, which excuse the use of terror, for example, the attitude of Americans towards slaves , religous zealots and the 'other'.

I think that there are times when refering to acts of terror as warfare would be very helpful in the political debate, what Pinochet did to his own people was warfare.