John,

>Doug
>
>Well, apart from the fact that Iranians are not Arabs, anecdote is a dangerous way to judge.

Of which I'm well aware kind sir. <s>

>Think of some of the TV clips you saw last night and consider whether you would be happy for your culture to be judged by those.

LOL.. I suppose you take me for an utter fool? < bbg > Watching most US television is like taking a class in Victimology 101. <g>

My pet name for most TV folk would be "Emotion Pimps". <g> That is, they sell emotions for money. Look very closely at the next few days of 'news' and most of it, particularly in the 'personal interest' areas goes something like this:

[scene: Auto crash, flood, plane down, school shooting spree, etc ]

Reporter: "So Mrs. how does it feel to know that your daughter is still missing?", or something equally obnoxious and stupid - all designed to get an emotion.

And, if the reporter-ette is lucky enough they'll get the bereaved mother, father, ?? to break down and give a good cry... Can you say "Emmy"? <g>

And they prance about as though they have some great moral right to extract what they call news at the expense of the individual. The only thing worse are the knuckleheads who watch the stuff. Pure voyeurism IMO.

My reaction?: "Oh barf!" <g>

>
>>>Name for me the absolute best (in your judgement) example of an Islamic state. Let's look at the cold, hard facts for a little bit here.<<
>
>I would be tempted to suggest United Arab Emirates- but as I say, I'm not the expert...

So, you cannot or will not then.... ?? I'm not at all surprised. I'd wager I've alrady made my case.

Best,


DD

A man is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose.
Everything I don't understand must be easy!
The difficulty of any task is measured by the capacity of the agent performing the work.