"Blessed are the cheese makers."

There is no doubt that the immediate threat of those hardliners who have taken their struggle to unacceptable depths of inhumanity must be dealt with by all acceptable means.

But if this process is allowed to polarize the situation to the particular as opposed to the wider cause then a cycle of violence (the world's in the shitter) will no doubt continue.

Perhaps Mr. Bush is proud of his homespun black and white view of the world, and perhaps this persona will ring true enough with the American voters to give him a second term. But I'm not sure it will help the world to deal with some of its entrenched problems.

Palestine, exploitation of the Gulf, Chechnya, Iraq etc. provide those who would exploit opportunities to persuade that the infidel is at war with Islam. But for me the irony that Jew, Christian and Muslim are all supposed to be Sons of Abraham, brothers, is something that we all seem to forget. Perhaps if we started to remember it a bit more, we could start to clear up this mess.

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Vigil, if you were my husband, I would give you poison.

Madam, if you were my wife, I would take it.