Andrew in CA

I just checked it- not the same lady. Also, Michael's mom lives in Manhattan, and the lady that ired Miles lives in Inglewood, CA.

I just watched the episode again, and a comment by Carl leads me to believe it was Ben's plan to have Carl and Rousseau iced all along. When they sit down to take a break and Alex asks Carl what's wrong, Carl says something to the degree of, what if your dad is setting us up? It seems Lost always has these little hints along the way. Also, in the beginning of episode, when Rousseau, Carl, and Alex are all talking, Ben is staring at Carl pretty intently.

Way better than last week's dud. I loved Britney's dance routine at the MTV Awards.

I've read A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls, both of which were fantastic. I would put Bell Tolls in my top 3 fiction books. So far, though, I'm not really of fan of Also Rises. We'll see, but I'm about 3/4 through and it's pretty boring. However, I can't wait to get deeper into his catalogue.

I loved that book. Bryson is the man, and he wrote it from the perspective of someone like me: no idea about anything in science. My gf at the time gave me In a Sunburned Country before I went to Australia, and I was hooked- and I stayed away from Canberra. Still have A Walk in the Woods in the queue, though. I'm reading Leviathan by Hobbes, Living Buddha Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh, and The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway.

Honestly, that had so little to do with what I am talking about. I am talking about how to stop recruitment of Muslims at home. It showcased Muslims radicals in the West, OK, but had nothing to do with why they are that way. The last four seconds did, and it said something to effect of: foreign policy has a lot to do with it, and that many young Muslims feel they are easy prey because they feel the British government is scapegoating them. OK, so, taking those last four seconds into account as they are the only seconds that address the roots of terrorism, I stand by statement that a good way to stop home recruitment would be to treat Muslims as regular members of society. I'm still not sure why you disagree with that.

OK Bluefire, I thought about it. I'm going to include all the elements I stated above, but I also think you're right in that actions we have taken have led him and others like him to take their crusade out on us. To make us the main target of his jihad, it would stand to reason that we have wronged him and Islam as a whole the most. It seems to me the invasive American culture aspect is a convenient reason for recruitment, but not a fundamental reason for a jihad. Actual encroachment on Arab or Islam (as he and his ilk see it) is probably the fundamental reason that he is the way he is. Combine that with megalomania, a deep religious fervor, and a ton of money, and international terrorism is born.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. Nothing saving about it, a Tarantino-wannabe flick. The only people that I know that like it are Irish Catholics from Boston. Just a terrible movie.

Good question, and it's sad and I'm embarrassed I haven't really thought about that. I suppose, off hand, thirst for power, militant interpretation of the Koran, hatred of perceived wrongs to Islam as a whole. Honestly, though, I need to ruminate on that one. I'll get back to you.

I believe there are some people, like OBL, that would make any excuse and try to formulate any reasons to attack the US, regardless of our actions. So, the only way to stop people like him is to stop recruitment and end support for crusades like his. To do that, like you said, you take away the reasons they would want to start recruiting. I don't think that would stop them from trying, but it would stop them from gaining any support.

I just googled it- are you referring to the book? Look, I'm not saying coddle terrorists in our country. I've never encountered a Muslim in the US that demanded we about the Islamic way of life, or heard anything about that in the US at all. I'm with you, F that, I'm not adopting any religion or religious law code with which I disagree. All I'm saying is treat Muslims with the same respect you treat every member of society. Surely you can't disagree with that.

This is getting to the root of the matter: how to stop recruitment. As RK pointed out, in today's age, there's no way our culture, MTV, movies, etc. won't infiltrate the Middle East. It's too popular. So, there is nothing we can do about that. We can change our policies, like stop aggressively invading nations and establishing "democracy", and change our attitudes towards Muslims in general, at home especially. A great way to get American Muslims to join terrorist causes is to call them towelheads, espouse hatred towards Islam, and generally isolate them. To nitpick over what the reason for 9/11 is futile now- it is a combination of a lot of things- culture, actions, and crazies. Now, we have to do something about it. I heard Ron Paul say something to the effect of, "We're always going to be wealthy and we're always going to be free, so we better think of some other ways to stop these guys."

What was going on in the 19th century? Also, I don't know their reasoning for sure, but I bet the Taliban felt about our help the same way we did about the Soviets in WWII- lesser of two evils, or the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Setting up bases in Saudi Arabia and support for that regime (and other un-Islamic ones, by his definition) was OBL's main reason. They hate us for our freedoms?? That sounds more like a "useful idiot" to me. Where did you get that, Rumsfeld? And what does your last sentence even mean?

OOhh, good call. That would also explain Jack's reply when the funeral attendant asked him if he was a friend or family and Jack said neither. As of now, Ben makes the most sense.

But if that is the case, then why does Jack become suicidal after reading about Ben's death?

Do you read the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and all state and local laws and codes to your kids at bedtime? If so, emphasize the law against bestiality a lot- we want to make sure they know it's illegal, so they won't do the family dog and all. Lord knows kids would if they could!

If they legalize bestiality, are my children and my children's children going to have sex with animals?

That sounds awesome. I trust Raimi to keep it raw but fun- hope this project comes to fruition.

Yeah dude, you might want to rethink that. Something tells me duels aren't your thing. How about using Andrew Jackson in your stead?

LOL, honestly, a Jin flashback didn't even cross my mind. And it seemed normal to have a Jin fake death and a crazy scheme to try to explain it. Such is Lost. I've got to start paying more attention to the little things.

Look, I was responding to your statement: "If John McCain had any association with a similar racist, anti-semite,, and demagogue, he couldn’t hold a seat on the local school board. What Gives?" and I posted because he does have "any" association with a racist, ignorant ahole as well. The relationship isn't nearly as deep as Obama's is with Wright, but it exists. I just wanted to point that out. Yes, Wright says some pretty messed up stuff, stuff that I do not believe in whatsoever. Hagee also says some pretty messed up stuff. I just wanted to alert you of that fact, because it seemed you thought McCain didn't have any association with religious nuts. Like I said, it is Obama's obligation, IMO, to explain himself. McCain doesn't need to because he merely acknowledged the endorsement of Hagee, and, like you said, hasn't had a long relationship with him. Also, why did you read Obama's book?

OOOHHH. Man, do I feel stupid. Whoops. Well, that clears a few things up.

Wow. I'm blown away by that episode. The Michael thing, I think, we all saw coming for a long time now, so I'm not too surprised by that. 1) After Jin and Sun's dramatic reconciliation, wtf is up with that flash-forward? Why would Jin fake his death and then immediately get married? And to whom? He said he worked for Paik Automotive- is that Sun's father's company? I can't remember. They are both back in Seoul, so maybe to avoid any trouble with Sun's father, Jin agreed to fake his own death in order to let Sun and the baby live in peace. But then how did he fake his death convincingly enough to fool Sun and Hurley and still get off the island? Questions galore, there. 2) Was it just me, or did Desmond not seemed as shocked as he should've after learning about Charles Widmore. Anyway, the big question there is: what does that black box say? 3) So, according to Widmore and the boat crew, Ben was behind the fake Oceanic 815 crash. Are they to be believed? It would make sense, but where did the bodies come from, and the plane, and the money? More mystery for Ben. 4) Is Michael the "friend" on the boat? Or is he working solely for Ben? If so, then who is the "friend"? 5)What was the significance of the lady that drowned herself reading the book upside down? 6) Who dies next week?! I'm betting Michael. Great episode. Just, wow.

True, and Obama needs to stand up and clarify himself on this- like the WashPost op-ed said, he can't just gloss over it. Obama, like McCain, has distanced himself from the controversial points of his endorser, though the long relationship between the two, like I said, needs to be addressed by Obama. I was pointing out with the Hagee thing that McCain has a similar wacko supporting him, and whose support he has carefully acknowledged. So, in reply to this statement: "If John McCain had any association with a similar racist, anti-semite,, and demagogue, he couldn’t hold a seat on the local school board. What Gives?" I posted about Hagee.