Terrorism????...Blame America!!!!

[frugi]

I'm enjoying this discussion immensely. Atilla and cryten, warm-hearted thinkers, I hope you don't mind if I address a couple of random points in a haphazard manner.

Atheists fail to pick up on this point about the essence of life and purpose and merely focus on the existence and behaviour.

I think most of us are invigorated by the complete lack of objective purpose and thus concentrate on making the most of a finite life, by imbuing it with as much personal meaning and purpose as we possibly can, through our thoughts, aspirations, relationships and actions. It is only by examining the history and context of our existence and behaviour that we can make a game stab at the essence.

The idea of fully understanding how our consciousness works seems futile, or at least an amusing paradox, however, as we are by definition caught in the middle of the experiment, unable to look down on our subject as we might a mouse or a proton.

The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.

But some of those people on that merry go round will eventually get bored and become wise enough to ask WHY? Why am I on this merry go round, where did it come from and when do I get off?

Indeed, people like Richard have fervently asked "Why? How?" etc. for most of their lives and have found enlightenment in so doing. Painstaking examination of the evidence leads to the view that we are on it due to natural selection and we get off after up to roughly a century. We are left to make the most of it.

You mention love as as intangible but universally recognised force and thus a possible parallel to god. Love is merely a chemical interaction in the brain. When we're in first flush of it, we're pumping out dopamine, serotonin and possibly other stimulants. We feel high, we don't eat properly, our brains feel flossed with cheesewire, time speeds up, empathy flows etc. In the aftermath of sex, petit mal as the French call it, we squirt out some oxytoxin to makes us feel all cosy with our partner. We need to feel cosy so we can improve the chances of passing our genes on by breeding and then stick around to help rear the creature. All of this can be measured with (I think) MRI or similar brain scanning technology. Does it debase the emotion, unweave the rainbow, render futile reams of John Donne's finest? Not in the slightest. The feeling is utterly real to us because that's how our brains work. After all, sobriety also is a chemical state (that some of us can only handle for a part of the day, as someone once said .

1. You like Dorkin's skip over one of the most important of questions such as the soul and emotions.

What exactly do you mean by soul? Genuine question. Do you see it as something separate from the body, perhaps that lives after death or do you simply mean "how emotions and thoughts appear to us while we experience them", to put it badly.

Linked below is an interesting chat "Is science killing the soul?" with Pinker and Dawkins.

'Is Science Killing the Soul?' by Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Edge - RichardDawkins.net

Do you really believe science has some drug form of medical treatment to all the sad souls out in the world?

Prescription drugs such as Seroxat and Prozac are crude and work for some people and not others. It is imho simplistic to assume that dosing everyone with a single serotonin derivative is going to sort out every case of clinical depression. It is using a lump hammer when a set of jeweller's screwdrivers would probably be more apt. In addition it is easily forgotten, especially by harried prescribing doctors, that temporary melancholy is a natural and healthy condition for humans. We do like to invent conditions for the drugs we've just invented to "cure". But yes, they do improve the lives of some, while probably making those of others worse.

Do you seriously believe, drugs and alcohol make you happy and fullfil your senses?

In moderation they can be wonderful. It is all a matter of balance. There is a world of difference between enhancing/celebrating and escaping. The latter is usually a sticking plaster applied in the wrong place. Taking drugs often mimics what our own bodies produce anyway, e.g. heroin for endorphins, pills for serotonin, so if we're happy already, well think of it as an interest free credit card. Just be sure to pay off the balance every month.

Look in a nut shell, humans are curious little creatures want to know everything and control their lives. They want to live for ever.

I admire the curious ones. The majority don't even bother. Incidentally, I can't imagine anything worse than living for ever. Seriously, can you imagine it? There's a great section in A History of the World in 10.5 chapters by Julian Barnes about this. Worth it for the glorious description of the perfect full English breakfast alone. Chap finds himself in heaven with the perfect life. Guess what happens after a few centuries? Mmm bacon. Anyway I digress. Two hundred years would be sweet though. We'll probably manage that soon enough.

Ah remembered my final point. I think you mentioned the idea of all humans knowing in their heart when they were doing right or wrong, because they feel a universal moral sense. Therefore it follows there must be an objective morality in the universe from which we can draw. Forgive me if I'm misquoting you freely, it's as late as I am lazy. I agree there is a universal moral sense found in humans, but it is completely our construct. We need one, again, to help our genes propagate. It is a good idea in general not to steal, murder and steal wives etc. if one wants to rear healthy children who enjoy longevity, especially when one lives in a small community. So I think we come with inbuilt moral software to help steer us on the right track, much as we have an instinct to drink water and seek shelter. We then learn the details from our parents. It's a bit like the universal grammar of language.
Of course, unfortunately as rational beings we have the choice to ignore these fundamentals and behave like ********s. A cat with the same instinct does not, which is why I often prefer their piercingly honest company to humans'. The heartwarming thing is, despite this Darwinist rush of the fittest to survive under orders from their nasty selfish genes, social Darwinism does not automatically follow. The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley is a really interesting read that examines all the genetic reasons for altruism and selflessness among humans and shows that we can be bloody nice people despite our genes wishing to get ahead.

That adults have belief in god(s) has always confounded me, although I realise that when one is a child, when brain is in automatic fully-trusting mode - as it has to be - it is easy to be led astray and this can be hard to shake off even as one grows independent and curious. And, fair enough, if a personal belief (provided it is not forced on others) gives someone comfort, who am I to assail it? God knows, I have a head full of irrationality. But I admire people like Richard who encourage people to do their own research with the facts we have in front of us. It's a pity he is always edited on TV to come across like an angry Professor Yaffle cause he is actually rather meek and charming. Still, ratings matter more than honesty to the media Tristrams. Also, The God Delusion is imho the least interesting and cogently argued of his books; some of his earlier ones are far better.

 

[dick_dastardly]

Relax, nonbelievers, and let us live our lives with our beliefs. Lenin tried to outlaw religion but I doubt whether religion, with all it's faults, has done a worse job than his regime did.

Split

Making religion against the law and freedom from religion are not the same thing.

Looking through history for regimes that replaced, restricted or banned religions and then went on to have poor track records on human rights is a pretty standard argument used against atheists in debates such as these. You forgot to mention Germany in the 1930's, France during the French Revolution or China.

The thing about atheists is, that they believe that they can act with impunity on the basis that there is no one to answer to, afterwards.

hmmm, no, I don't think I would put it quite like that. I guess most humans fall into one of two groups, those that believe they will have to answer afterwards, and those that believe we have to answer in the here and now.



dd

 

[dick_dastardly]

Lets see, you believe that you were somewhere before you were born but of course that's no kind of "medieval superstitious nonsense"

Nope, but you're getting very warm

You need to go back and change just one word here and you'll have it.

Why are so convinced that they don't already know?
I am not aware where innocence saved anyone from being killed by terrorists.

Valid point






Atilla !

That death clock thingy you linked to, sorry mate but I think it's defective in some way. I'm only 45 and it says I'm going to die on Sunday, October 13, 2019. I'm sorry but that just can't be right :cheesy:





errr can it ?

dd

 

[Jiuk]

Its interesting to note that the most brilliant minds in history were men of immense faith.

 

[Jiuk]

You mention love as as intangible but universally recognised force and thus a possible parallel to god. Love is merely a chemical interaction in the brain. When we're in first flush of it, we're pumping out dopamine, serotonin and possibly other stimulants. We feel high, we don't eat properly, our brains feel flossed with cheesewire, time speeds up, empathy flows etc. In the aftermath of sex, petit mal as the French call it, we squirt out some oxytoxin to makes us feel all cosy with our partner. We need to feel cosy so we can improve the chances of passing our genes on by breeding and then stick around to help rear the creature. All of this can be measured with (I think) MRI or similar brain scanning technology. Does it debase the emotion, unweave the rainbow, render futile reams of John Donne's finest? Not in the slightest. The feeling is utterly real to us because that's how our brains work. After all, sobriety also is a chemical state (that some of us can only handle for a part of the day, as someone once said .



I have to believe that you know difference between “lust” and love and that you able to distinguish between the different types of love. Of course you know but just this one little point will require you to reevaluate your entire outlook and like most of us you find mirrors terrifying.

 

[frugi]

Thanks for your comments jiuk. Indeed, you're right, I do try to distinguish between them, but I'm not sure why a wholesale reevaluation is necessary. Lust is the primitive urge that sets things in motion, love comes a little later, presumably if the subconscious detects a potentially good genetic match, then attachment. These three stages make sense.

1) Lust (the craving for sexual gratification), driven by androgens and estrogens;
2) Attraction (or romantic or passionate love, characterized by euphoria when things are going well, terrible mood swings when they’re not, focused attention, obsessive thinking, and intense craving for the individual), driven by high dopamine and norepinephrine levels and low serotonin;
3) Attachment (the sense of calm, peace, and stability one feels with a long-term partner) driven by the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin.

"I think the sex drive evolved to get you out there to get looking for anything at all. Romantic love developed to focus one’s mating energy on just one individual while attachment works to tolerate this individual long enough to raise children as a team."

Quote paraphrased from here

CS Lewis thought there were four loves: Eros (+ Venus i.e. lust), Charity, Affection and Friendship, I think, and he had a point. I don't love my friends in exactly the same way I love my wife. But then again I'm not trying to raise a child with my friends, so I'd expect the chemistry to be different. Anyway we'd better not derail this thread too much.

You're right, after hitting thirty I'm not so keen on the mirror these days

 

[cryten]

Its interesting to note that the most brilliant minds in history were men of immense faith.

Well it's also interesting to note ginger women from the victorian era wore corsets.

YOU DON'T SAY!!

You know blanket statements like these should be expected I suppose, that's how faith survives as no one sits to think, hmm at some points in history it was actually quite dangerous to oneself not to be religious.

Religion is the perfect MLM scam, whatever valid question you throw at it you receive absolute nonsense in return.

 

[Atilla]

One thing that always strikes me as strange is that a suicide bomber is always a terrorist and yet a hitech attack helicopter or stealth bomber blowing to hell an entire street is seen as something different. The end result is the same in that people who were alive are now dead. Who wins?

If you can't tell the diff between the two nothing anyone will say will be of any help to yo.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what exactly is your point Jiuk but just for reference; Kamikaze pilots were not terrorist or enemy combatants. They were pilots like the ones who kill innoccent civilians at weddings or legendary US marines with legendary records on shoot first then ask questions.

The first Iranian suicide bomber was also a young boy who used him self to blow up some Iraqi tank if I recall correctly.

I have also seen US fighter footage of a film where US pilot sees a group of civilians on infrared display of varrying sizes. I could tell some were small enough to be children and you could even see them holding hands. They were also walking plainly in the middle of the street and not hugging walls. After receiving verification he was instructed by who ever his command was giving the claer to take out target. After he fires and you see a big grey of cloud in the middle of about 20-30 bodies of various sized obvious civilians he laughs out "Poor dude..."

The US war in Iraq was a big mistake, has cost the US dearly, has encouraged terrorism where there wasn't any (Iraq) so please pass me the sick bucket. I have been against this unjust war for some time now and people like you are being lied to but despite contrary to over whelming evidence you still shovelling the same old tosh from uncle Bush.

I also think tellling Russia to get out of Georgia is very rich coming from the US having invaded Iraq and caused the level of carnage we have all seen.

Also, US said missile defence system in Europe was against the Iranians. I'm baffled as to why the Russians getting so hot under the collar? I guess they are beyond help too.

 

[Atilla]

What upsets me is that the list isn't growing at a rate that is proportionate with the spread of dictators and terrorists. There are a few names that belong on that list.

You mean like Bush and Blair. I'm with you on that one buddy.

 

[Atilla]

Nope, but you're getting very warm

You need to go back and change just one word here and you'll have it.




Valid point






Atilla !

That death clock thingy you linked to, sorry mate but I think it's defective in some way. I'm only 45 and it says I'm going to die on Sunday, October 13, 2019. I'm sorry but that just can't be right :cheesy:





errr can it ?

dd

You a pessimist DD?

I would have had you down as an optimist mate.

 

[dick_dastardly]

Kamikaze pilots were not terrorist or enemy combatants. They were pilots like the ones who kill innoccent civilians at weddings or legendary US marines with legendary records on shoot first then ask questions.

The Kamikaze were victims, just like the 911 hijackers who slammed passenger jets into the WTC.

I also think tellling Russia to get out of Georgia is very rich coming from the US having invaded Iraq and caused the level of carnage we have all seen.

Yes, we have lost the moral high ground. Russia knows it and so do the Iranians and they will exploit it as far as possible.

You a pessimist DD?

Very much so I'm afraid, I think that's why that death clock thing pumped out such alarming answer



dd

 

[Jiuk]

You mean like Bush and Blair. I'm with you on that one buddy.

Advocating that a democratically elected leader be assassinated is sign of deep stupidity.
Further it is illegal in the US, not sure in England, but I aim to find out by forwarding your posting.

 

[Jiuk]

Well it's also interesting to note ginger women from the victorian era wore corsets.

YOU DON'T SAY!!

You know blanket statements like these should be expected I suppose, that's how faith survives as no one sits to think, hmm at some points in history it was actually quite dangerous to oneself not to be religious.

Religion is the perfect MLM scam, whatever valid question you throw at it you receive absolute nonsense in return.

I am sure that Einstein was deathly afraid to be considered "not religious".

 

[Jiuk]

Thanks for your comments jiuk. Indeed, you're right, I do try to distinguish between them, but I'm not sure why a wholesale reevaluation is necessary. Lust is the primitive urge that sets things in motion, love comes a little later, presumably if the subconscious detects a potentially good genetic match, then attachment. These three stages make sense.



"I think the sex drive evolved to get you out there to get looking for anything at all. Romantic love developed to focus one’s mating energy on just one individual while attachment works to tolerate this individual long enough to raise children as a team."

Quote paraphrased from here

CS Lewis thought there were four loves: Eros (+ Venus i.e. lust), Charity, Affection and Friendship, I think, and he had a point. I don't love my friends in exactly the same way I love my wife. But then again I'm not trying to raise a child with my friends, so I'd expect the chemistry to be different. Anyway we'd better not derail this thread too much.

You're right, after hitting thirty I'm not so keen on the mirror these days

Let me know if you need help marketing that love potion.

 

[Jiuk]

Kamikazes were Japaneses soldiers, dully sworn in and documented, wearing military uniforms engaging the military assets of another nation. How is their status questionable?
What uniforms is AlQaida and assorted other Islamist terrorists wearing these days?

 

[Jiuk]

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The 7 July 2005 London bombings (also called the 7/7 bombings) were a series of coordinated bomb blasts that hit London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. Carried out by British Islamist extremists, the suicide bombings were motivated by Britain's involvement in the Iraq War and other conflicts.[1] At 8:50 a.m., three bombs exploded within fifty seconds of each other on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus nearly an hour later at 9:47 a.m. in Tavistock Square. The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four suicide bombers, injured 700, and caused disruption of the city's transport system (severely for the first day) and the country's mobile telecommunications infrastructure. The series of suicide-bomb explosions constituted the largest and deadliest terrorist attack on London's transit system in its history.

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***







Intelligence Summit Webring - Anti-Terror Resources





List of Islamic Terror Attacks For the Past 2 Months



Date Country City Killed Injured Description

8/23/2008 Pakistan Abuha 2 4 Two people are killed when Islamists detonate a bomb at an intersection.

8/23/2008 Pakstan Swat 15 23 A Holy Warrior sends over a dozen innocents to Allah with a car bomb.

8/22/2008 Pakistan NWFP 2 14 Two security force personnel are killed when Mujahideen attack their vehicle with a grenade.

8/22/2008 India Ganderbal 1 1 A local soldier is shot to death by Islamic militants while standing guard.

8/22/2008 Pakistan Peshawar 1 2 Taliban militants fire rockets into a police station, killing one officer.

8/21/2008 Pakistan Kohat 1 0 Muslim radicals on motorcycles gun down a young soldier.

8/21/2008 Pakistan Swat 5 1 Five civilians are brutally gunned down in two Taliban drive-bys.

8/21/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 6 11 Six civilians are killed during two separate attacks by Islamic militia.

8/21/2008 Iraq Mosul 1 0 A civilian is abducted and beheaded by suspected fundamentalists.

8/21/2008 Pakistan Wah 78 67 Over seventy innocents are slaughtered by twin Fedayeen suicide bombers outside a factory.

8/21/2008 Thailand Narathiwat 2 17 A journalist is among two people murdered by Muslim car bombers.

8/20/2008 Algeria Bouira 12 38 Islamic fundamentalists murder a dozen civilians with two bomb attacks, one on a hotel.

8/20/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 4 7 Four civilians are killed during an ambush by Islamic hardliners.

8/20/2008 Iraq Baghdad 7 6 Seven civilians are murdered by Islamic terrorists in various attacks, including a woman and a player on a soccer field.

8/20/2008 Somalia Kismayo 9 22 Al Shabaab Islamists attack a town, killing at least nine civilians.

8/20/2008 Pakistan Peshawar 2 0 Jaish-i-Islami shoot two accused prostitutes to death, then mutilate their faces with knives.

8/19/2008 Afghanistan Surobi 10 21 Ten French soldiers are brutally ambushed and killed. Four were murdered in captivity.

8/19/2008 Iraq Baqubah 35 0 Thirty-five victims of Sunni terrorists are found bound and executed in two mass graves.

8/19/2008 Algeria Issers 43 38 An Islamic fundamentalist drives a car packed with explosives into a police school. Over forty are killed in the carnage.

8/19/2008 Pakistan Dera Ismail Khan 30 32 A man walks into a hospital, yells "Allah Akbar," then detonates, slaughtering over thirty innocents.

8/19/2008 Afghanistan Khost 2 0 Two civilians are killed in attacks by Sunni suicide bombers.

8/18/2008 Philippines Mindanao 49 50 Forty-nine Christian villagers are shot or hacked to death by Moro Islamists rampaging through three towns.

8/18/2008 Afghanistan Khost 10 13 Ten civilians are murdered by a suicide bomber along a city street. The victims are described as "poor laborers."

8/18/2008 Somalia Doblai 2 2 Fundamentalists hurl a grenade into a meeting place used by a sect, killing two people.

8/18/2008 Pakistan Swat 1 0 A civilian is shot to death by Mujahideen.

8/18/2008 Iraq Baghdad 1 1 Radicals gun down a cleric. His wife is also shot in the attack.

8/18/2008 Iraq Ramadi 5 7 Five Iraqis are taken down by a Fedayeen car bomber.

8/17/2008 Azerbaijan Baku 2 8 Islamic extremists are thought responsible for hurling a grenade into a mosque.

8/17/2008 Afghanistan Helmand 3 4 A woman and two small children are killed when Mujahideen use them as human shields.

8/17/2008 Iraq Baghdad 15 29 An al-Qaeda suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacks a crowd outside a Sunni mosque, killing at least fifteen innocents.

8/17/2008 Somalia Dinsoor 2 0 Two humanitarian workers are murdered by hardline Islamists.

8/17/2008 Philippines Lanao del Sur 7 11 Moro Islamists ambush a logistics transport, killing seven riders.

8/16/2008 Pakistan Hayatabad 1 0 A prominent Shia leader is shot to death outside his home by Sunni militants.

8/16/2008 Philippines Panamao 2 0 Two off-duty soldiers are brutally murdered by Abu Sayyaf after being stranded by a broken motorcycle.

8/16/2008 Iraq Baghdad 6 11 Six more Shia pilgrims are murdered by Sunni bombers in an attack on their minibus.

8/16/2008 India Kishtwar 1 0 Mujahideen abduct and murder a civilian.

8/16/2008 Afghanistan Logar 1 0 A drum player is shot to death by Islamic hardliners.

8/16/2008 Pakistan Shawaal 1 0 A 40-year-old man is beheaded by religious radicals.

8/16/2008 Afghanistan Kandahar 10 0 Ten Afghans are blown up by religious extremists in a roadside attack.

8/15/2008 Iraq Balad 9 48 Sunnis detonate a bomb on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims, killing nine.

8/15/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 5 0 Islamic militia kill five people with a roadside bomb along a city street.

8/14/2008 Pakistan Swat 1 0 A civilian is abducted and riddled with bullets by Sunni militants.

8/14/2008 Pakistan Umari 1 0 A pro-government tribesman is shot to death by the Taliban

8/14/2008 Iraq Karbala 18 75 An al-Qaeda female suicide bomber strikes a group of Shiite pilgrims, slaughtering at least eighteen.

8/14/2008 Pakistan Swat 2 0 A woman and a boy are killed when Islamists fire on security forces in a populated area.

8/14/2008 Iraq Baqubah 1 2 An 8-year-old girl is killed by Islamic bomber, who also wound her mother and sister.

8/14/2008 Algeria Jijel 2 0 An army officer and his driver are killed by Islamic fundamentalists in their car. A separate bombing kills one other person.

8/13/2008 Iraq Khan Bani Saad 1 2 A local woman is taken out by Mujahideen bombers.

8/13/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 19 Islamists gun down a 26-year-old man, then plant a bomb to catch first responders.

8/13/2008 Thailand Yala 1 2 A 57-year-old man is killed, and his family injured, when Mujahideen toss a grenade into his home.

8/13/2008 Afghanistan Logar 4 0 Three female humanitarian workers and their driver are brutally shot to death at point blank range by Holy Warriors.

8/13/2008 Lebanon Tripoli 18 45 Eighteen people at a bus stop are blown to bits by Islamic bombers.

8/13/2008 Algeria Bouira 1 0 A local guard is killed by a bomb planted by Islamic fundamentalists.

8/13/2008 Iraq Qayara 2 10 Two patrons are killed when Jihadis set off a car bomb at a market.

8/13/2008 Afghanistan Helmand 5 4 Taliban bombers murder five local police.

8/13/2008 Pakistan Lahore 9 35 Islamists bomb an independence day celebration, killing at least nine innocents.

8/13/2008 Pakistan Kirri 1 5 Baitullah Mehsud terrorists ambush a group of local soldiers, killing one.

8/13/2008 Pakistan Bajaur 1 0 A doctor is killed while being held as a human shield by Mujahideen.

8/13/2008 India Kishtwar 1 0 A civilian is shot to death by Muslim militants outside his home.

8/13/2008 Iraq Mosul 3 15 Islamic bombers kill three Iraqis at an intersection.

8/12/2008 China Xinjiang 3 0 Three security guards are stabbed to death by Muslim militants.

8/12/2008 Thailand Narathiwat 3 1 Two small children and their father are brutally gunned down by radical Muslims while out on a family trip.

8/12/2008 Pakistan Peshawar 13 11 A child is among thirteen people killed when Sunni bombers target a minibus.

8/12/2008 Philippines Basilan 4 0 At least four Catholic civilians are killed when Moro Islamists strafe their homes with gunfire.

8/12/2008 Iraq Baqubah 2 10 A female suicide bomber takes out two Iraqis.

8/12/2008 Iraq Ramadi 6 0 A woman and three children are among six family members shot to death by the Religion of Peace.

8/12/2008 Germany Ruesselsheim 1 0 A 55-year-old woman is shot to death in an honor attack involving two Muslim groups.

8/11/2008 Afghanistan Kabul 3 12 Three Afghan civilians are blown apart by a suicide car bomber.

8/11/2008 Afghanistan Uruzgan 6 3 A child is among a half dozen civilians killed while being used as human shields by Holy Warriors.

8/11/2008 Philippines Basilan 2 12 Two civilians are killed when Moro Islamists storm a village.

8/11/2008 Iraq Wajihiya 5 3 Five women field laborers are slain by Jihad bombers while walking to work.

8/11/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 8 0 Holy Warriors kill eight soldiers in a brutal ambush.

8/11/2008 Iran Saravan 2 0 A Sunni group called 'soldiers of Allah' kidnaps and executes two security guards.

8/11/2008 Pakistan Bajaur 2 0 Islamists capture and then cut the heads off of two civilians.

8/11/2008 Iraq Baqubah 4 16 A female suicide bomber takes out four Iraqis.

8/10/2008 Afghanistan Kandahar 5 3 A group of migrant laborers is blown up by Taliban bombers. Five are killed.

8/10/2008 Philippines Midsayap 3 0 Moro Islamist snipers take out three local soldiers.

8/10/2008 Iraq Baghdad 9 46 Jihad bombers murder nine Iraqis in three attacks.

8/10/2008 Iraq Tarmiyah 4 21 Four locals are taken out in a suicide bombing.

8/10/2008 Iraq Khanaqin 3 25 Fedayeen bombers blow themselves up in a minibus along a city street, killing three innocent bystanders.

8/10/2008 China Xinjiang 8 4 Eight people are killed in a series of suicide bomb attacks by Muslim militants.

8/10/2008 Saudi Arabia Riyadh 1 0 A 26-year-old woman has her tongue cut out, then is set on fire by her father (a moral policeman) for converting to Christianity.

8/10/2008 Pakistan Kurram 10 24 A second day of Sunni-Shia sectarian violence leaves ten people dead.

8/10/2008 Pakistan Hangu 1 0 Taliban hardliners are suspected in the shooting death of a local cop.

8/10/2008 Algeria Tigzirt 3 0 Islamic fundamentalists blow up a police station, killing three officers.

8/10/2008 Algeria Zemmouri 8 19 Eight Algerians are killed by a suicide bomber.

8/10/2008 Pakistan South Waziristan 1 0 An elderly man is shot to death by Islamic terrorists.

8/9/2008 Pakistan Swat 8 15 Eight local cops are shot to death inside their station by Islamic radicals.

8/9/2008 Nigeria Kano 1 0 A 50-year-old man is beaten to death by a Muslim mob for alleged blasphemy.

8/9/2008 Somalia Alamada 4 2 Three civilians and a local cop are murdered in a grenade attack by Islamic militia.

8/9/2008 Iraq Baqubah 16 0 An al-Qaeda mass grave is discovered. Five women are among the sixteen victims tortured and murdered.

8/9/2008 Pakistan Kurram 16 25 Sunnis and Shia settle their sectarian differences with gunfire, leaving sixteen dead.

8/9/2008 Algeria Zemmouri 8 8 A suicide bomber takes out eight Algerians along a city street.

8/9/2008 Iraq Baghdad 1 2 Fundamentalists shoot at a swimming pool manager, injuring him but killing one of his sons.

8/8/2008 Iraq Tal Afar 25 74 Jihadis bomb a marketplace, slaughtering over twenty Iraqis.

8/8/2008 Afghanistan Paktika 5 0 Five local cops are murdered by Islamic bombers.

8/8/2008 Afghanistan Kunar 1 2 A child is killed in a Taliban ambush.

8/8/2008 Pakistan Sadeeqabad 22 0 Twenty-two soldiers, some wounded, are riddled with bullets after being captured by Mujahideen.

8/8/2008 Pakistan Bajaur 3 0 Three civilians are murdered by the Taliban - two by beheading.

8/8/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 60-year-old Buddhist is beheaded by Islam's Holy Warriors.

8/8/2008 Thailand Yala 2 0 A fruit trader having dinner with his wife is among two people shot to death by Muslim terrorists in separate attacks.

8/7/2008 Phillipines Zamboanga 2 1 A 16-year-old and his father are shot to death by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants.

8/7/2008 Iraq Mosul 4 6 Terrorists plant a bomb on a corpse, luring four investigators to their deaths.

8/7/2008 Pakistan Swat 4 0 Fundamentalists burn down a girls school then shoot three people to death and behead another.

8/6/2008 Thailand Yala 0 1 A school principal is shot multiple times by Shahid while on his way home.

8/6/2008 Pakistan Swat 2 15 Islamic militants burn down several girls schools and kill two people, including a child, in separate attacks.

8/6/2008 Iraq Baquba 16 0 Sixteen men kidnapped by Sunni extremists are found bound and executed.

8/6/2008 Iraq Mosul 1 11 A suicide bomber kills a civilian and injures eleven more.

8/6/2008 Pakistan Tirah 4 12 Fighting breaks out between Islamic fundamentalist groups, leaving four dead.

8/6/2008 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 7 2 Religious extremists attack a police post, killing seven local officers.

8/6/2008 Somalia Lafoole 1 0 Islamic radicals gun down the head of an orphanage.

8/5/2008 Philippines Aleosan 1 0 One person is killed when Moro Islamic terrorists storm a sugar plantation.

8/5/2008 Iraq Basra 1 0 Fundamentalists shoot a barber to death for shaving beards.

8/5/2008 Iraq Kirkuk 3 0 al-Qaeda militants slit the throats of three Iraqis.

8/5/2008 Ingushetia Nazran 2 4 Muslim hardliners take down two local cops in separate Kalashnikov attacks.

8/4/2008 Iraq Baghdad 2 15 Jihadis manage to kill two civilians with a roadside bomb.

8/4/2008 China Xinjiang 16 16 Islamists stage a brutal grenade attack on a group of police, killing sixteen.

8/3/2008 Iraq Baghdad 12 22 Islamic terrorists manage to kill a dozen Iraqis with a truck bomb.

8/3/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 20 47 Twenty civilians, mostly women streetsweepers, are blown to bits by a massive bomb planted by Islamists.

8/3/2008 Algeria Kabylie 0 25 Twenty-five people are injured in a suicide blast.

8/3/2008 Afghanistan Helmand 1 0 Islamic extremists gun down a local judge.

8/3/2008 Iraq Latifiyah 6 13 Six civilians are killed by a Jihad roadside blast.

8/3/2008 Afghanistan Gardiz 3 0 Three civilians are murdered by Taliban militants.

8/3/2008 Afghanistan Paktika 0 0 Two clerics are killed while trying to assemble a suicide vest in their mosque.

8/3/2008 Afghanistan Ghazni 4 0 Religious extremists storm a police post, killing four officers.

8/3/2008 Pakistan Temargara 2 2 Two government tax collectors are shot to death by Sharia-minded militants.

8/3/2008 Pakistan Bajaur 1 0 A civilian is shot to death by Sunni extremists.

8/3/2008 Sudan Nyala 6 28 Janjaweed militia ambush a civilian convoy, killing six people.

8/2/2008 Afghanistan Kandahar 13 6 The bride and groom are among thirteen people blown to bits when Islamists target a wedding party with a bomb.

8/2/2008 Pakistan Kabal 8 5 Islamic hard-liners bomb a police van killing eight people.

8/2/2008 Pal. Auth. Gaza 1 16 A young boy is killed in fighting between the Muslim terror groups, Hamas and Fatah.

8/2/2008 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 29-year-old civilian is shot to death while riding a motorcycle.

8/2/2008 Iraq Baqubah 5 3 Sunni radicals murder five Iraqis with a roadside bomb.

8/2/2008 India Ramban 1 0 A youth is shot to death by Islamic militants.

8/2/2008 Ingushetia Nazran 1 1 Suspected Islamists open up on two policemen with automatic weapons.

8/1/2008 Afghanistan Kunar 1 0 Radical Sunnis take out a civilian in a roadside blast.

8/1/2008 Afghanistan Nimroz 3 5 Two children and a woman are murdered by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.

8/1/2008 Iraq Rashad 3 1 Jihadis kill three Iraqis with a roadside bomb.

8/1/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Islamic militia blast a Ugandan peacekeeper to death with a bomb planted at an airport.

8/1/2008 India Reasi 1 0 A boy is abducted by Mujahid, who then slit his throat.

7/31/2008 Somalia Hodan 2 0 A civilian and a police officer are gunned down in an ambush by Mujahid.

7/31/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 57-year-old schoolteacher is shot to death by Muslim militants at close-range.

7/31/2008 Iraq Mosul 3 0 A judge and two bodyguards are taken out by Islamic terrorists.

7/31/2008 Iraq Shaheed 3 4 A Fedayeen suicide bomber takes out three Iraqi police.

7/31/2008 Pakistan Deolai 7 0 Five children and their parents are killed when a shell hits their house following an ambush by Muslim militants.

7/31/2008 Jordan Nqeira 1 0 A man shoots his 23-year-old sister to death on suspicion that she had unmarried sex.

7/31/2008 Iraq Mosul 2 0 Fundamentalists kill two women over suspected immorality. One is beheaded.

7/30/2008 Ingushetia Nazran 5 5 Islamic hardliners are suspected in a car bomb attack that leaves five people dead.

7/30/2008 Pakistan Dera Ismail Khan 1 3 Islamic extremists ambush a vehicle, shooting one occupant to death.

7/29/2008 Pakistan Degan 1 0 A young woman is abducted and shot three times in the chest by Sunni extremists, who then dump the body in a sewer.

7/29/2008 Philippines Mindanao 4 1 Four Christian passengers are pulled from a bus and murdered by Islamic terrorists.

7/29/2008 Pakistan Akhun Killay 2 0 Two people are shot to death by Mujahideen.

7/28/2008 Iraq Kirkuk 38 178 A fedayeen suicide bomber attacks a political rally, slaughtering nearly forty people.

7/28/2008 Afghanistan Nuristan 3 0 A Taliban rocket attack on a residential area leaves three dead.

7/28/2008 Pakistan Kohat 2 12 A teenager is among two people blown apart when Islamic militants detonate a bomb attached to a bicycle.

7/28/2008 Iraq Mussayab 1 0 A woman is abducted, tied up and then murdered by suspected fundamentalists.

7/28/2008 Iraq Baghdad 32 102 Three female suicide bombers run into crowds of Shia pilgrims before detonating. Some thirty-two innocents are killed.

7/28/2008 Pakistan Matta 3 2 Three Pakistanis in a truck are shot to death by Tehrik-e-Taliban terrorists.

7/28/2008 Pakistan Mohmand 1 0 A 60-year-old man is abducted and murdered by the Mujahideen.

7/27/2008 Iraq Buhriz 2 0 Two oil workers are murdered by Jihadi bombers.

7/27/2008 Pakistan Charbagh 1 5 A child is killed when fundamentalists bomb a shopping center.

7/27/2008 Iraq Baghdad 7 0 Seven young Shia pilgrims on foot are shot at point-blank range by Sunni gunmen.

7/27/2008 Iraq Fallujah 2 2 Radical Sunnis bomb a house, killing two occupants.

7/26/2008 Lebanon Tripoli 9 50 A 10-year-old boy and a woman are among nine people killed in a sectarian conflict between Sunni and Alawite.

7/26/2008 India Ahmedabad 57 161 Islamic bombers rock India for a second day, setting seventeen bombs and killing over fifty innocent people.

7/26/2008 Iraq Hilla 1 0 Islamic gunmen take down a 4-year-old girl.

7/26/2008 Somalia Gedo 3 0 Islamic militia shoot three people to death at a roadblock.

7/26/2008 Indonesia Jakarata 0 265 Over two-hundred people are injured when a Muslim mob storms a Christian school.

7/26/2008 Pakistan Dera Bugti 3 0 Three local cops are murdered by Islamists in separate attacks.

7/25/2008 India Bangalore 2 10 Islamists set off a series of bombs, leaving two innocents dead, including a woman.

7/25/2008 Pal. Auth. Gaza 1 3 A bomb set outside a Christian cafe kills one person.

7/25/2008 Bangladesh Sadar 1 0 Suspected Jama'atul Mujahideen strangle a woman, then hang her from a tree.

7/25/2008 Pal. Auth. Gaza 1 15 A bomb kills a young girl.

7/24/2008 Philippines Digos 2 10 A group tied to the Moro Islamic Front is suspected in the bombing of a bus in which two people died.

7/24/2008 Afghanistan Paktia 3 4 Talibanis murder three local police with a bomb.

7/24/2008 Yemen Sayoun 4 12 al-Qaeda is suspected in the car bombing of a ministry building that leaves four dead.

7/24/2008 India Srinagar 5 28 Four children, ages 4 to 12, are killed along with a woman from the same family of migrant workers when Islamic terrorists throw a grenade into a bus stop.

7/24/2008 Iraq Baqubah 8 25 A female suicide bomber kills eight Sunni Iraqis.

7/24/2008 India Doda 4 0 A woman and a 13-year-old girl are among four civilians shot to death during a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen home invasion.

7/24/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 30-year-old schoolteacher is murdered by Islamic gunmen on his way to work.

7/24/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 Islamists shoot a 63-year-old villager to death.

7/23/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 Islamists gun down a school bus driver in a drive-by shooting.

7/23/2008 Algeria Lakhdaria 0 13 A suicide bomber on a motorbike injures thirteen Algerians.

7/23/2008 Afghanistan Nangarhar 1 2 Religious extremists murder a local cop with a bomb.

7/23/2008 Somalia Jowhar 1 0 Islamic militia assassinate a local official.

7/23/2008 Iraq Muqdadiyah 1 0 A young woman is killed in a Jihad roadside bombing.

7/22/2008 Thailand Narathiwat 1 5 A local soldier is killed in an Islamist bomb blast.

7/22/2008 Philippines Aleosan 1 1 Moro Islamists shoot a 62-year-old woman to death as she is farming her field.

7/22/2008 Afghanistan Ghazni 4 1 The Taliban kidnaps a man after invading his home and killing his four sons.

7/22/2008 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A 41-year-old rubber worker is shot to death by Muslim militants.

7/22/2008 Israel Jerusalem 0 11 A Palestinian attempts to run Israelis down with a bulldozer.

7/22/2008 Afghanistan Khost 4 3 A woman and child are among four civilians blown up by Sunni bombers.

7/21/2008 Afghanistan North Waziristan 2 0 Two civilians are abducted and murdered by Talibanis.

7/21/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 7 12 Three children are among seven killed in an Islamic militia mortar attack.

7/21/2008 Iraq Mosul 6 8 Freedom Fighters murder six Iraqis in various attacks.

7/21/2008 Iraq Saidiya 7 8 al-Qaeda kill seven Iraqis by planting a bomb on a tractor.

7/21/2008 Afghanistan Paktika 1 3 Sunni extremists attack the home of a former governor, killing him and injuring members of his family.

7/21/2008 Pakistan Bajur 1 2 Islamic militants gun down an elderly man riding in a car.

7/21/2008 China Kunming 2 10 The Turkestan Islamic Party takes credit for a bus bombing that leaves two dead.

7/20/2008 India Gulmarg 2 5 An 8-year-old boy is among two people killed when Islamic terrorists toss a grenade into a resort.

7/20/2008 Afghanistan Laghman 6 0 Six civilians are killed when Sunni hardliners blow up a fuel truck and a nearby minibus with a rocket.

7/20/2008 India Reasi 1 0 A civilian is shot to death outside his home by Mujahideen.

7/20/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 6 11 Six people are killed when Islamic hardliners attack a government patrol along a city street.

7/20/2008 Chechnya Grozny 3 0 Suspect Islamic rebels kill three policemen in cold blood.

7/20/2008 Thailand Pattani 3 0 Islamic terrorists shoot three villagers to death.

7/20/2008 Iraq Basra 1 0 A suspected prostitute is shot to death by fundamentalists.

7/19/2008 India Srinagar 10 16 Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen kill ten Indian soldiers in transport with a horrific bomb attack on their convoy.

7/19/2008 Lebanon Ain el-Helweh 1 0 Jund al-Sham gunmen take out a member of a reconciliation committee.

7/19/2008 Pal. Auth. Jabaliya 1 0 Suspected Hamas militants shoot a Fatah activist in his home.

7/19/2008 Iraq Tikrit 3 0 Freedom Fighters kill three Iraqis with automatic weapons.

7/19/2008 Pakistan Mohmand 4 0 The Taliban murder four hostages in cold blood.

7/19/2008 Ethiopia Jijiga 0 2 Two former Muslims who converted to Christianity are attacked by a stone-throwing mob of Muslims.

7/19/2008 Afghanistan Kandahar 4 1 Sunni extremists murder four local cops with a roadside bomb.

7/19/2008 Turkey Bosphorus 1 0 A gay man is shot to death in a suspected 'honor' killing.

7/19/2008 Pakistan Tirah 9 10 Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam clash over sectarian differences, leaving nine people dead.

7/18/2008 Pakistan South Waziristan 3 0 Three civilians are brutally executed by al-Qaeda backed militants.

7/18/2008 Pakistan North Waziristan 1 0 The head of a local madrassa is gunned down by sectarian rivals.

7/18/2008 Iraq Mosul 4 7 A Fedayeen suicide bomber takes out four Iraqis.

7/18/2008 India Banihal 0 36 Three dozen people, mostly women and children, are injured when Islamic terrorists toss a grenade into a crowded market.

7/18/2008 Afghanistan Helmand 3 4 Three Afghan guards are killed when religious hardliners bomb their convoy.

7/18/2008 India Udhampur 1 0 A civilian is abducted and murdered by the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

7/18/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 3 0 Muslim gunmen shoot three elders to death for helping humanitarian effots.

7/17/2008 Somalia Huriwa 5 3 A mother and her two children are among five killed when Holy Warriors stage an ambush.

7/17/2008 India Murshidabad 1 0 A Hindu man is beheaded by Muslims, angry that he married a Muslim woman.

7/17/2008 Afghanistan Zabul 1 5 Taliban militants attack a convoy, killing an Afghan.

7/17/2008 Pakistan Mohmand 3 0 Three people are killed when rival Islamist groups clash.

7/16/2008 Iraq Mosul 2 9 Jihadis kill two Iraqis with a car bomb.

7/16/2008 India Doda 1 0 Islamic militants abduct and murder a civilian.

7/16/2008 Iraq Tal Afar 18 90 Mujahdeen detonate a car bomb along a city street, slaughtering at least eighteen Iraqis, including seven children.

7/16/2008 Iraq Baghdad 3 7 A female al-Qaeda suicide bomber detonates in the house a Sunni family, killing three people.

7/16/2008 Pakistan Lahore 1 0 A teenaged Christian boy is kidnapped, tortured for two days, then killed by Muslims for dating a Muslim girl.

7/15/2008 Iraq Baqubah 35 69 Fedayeen bombers massacre nearly forty Iraqis, including first responders.

7/15/2008 Iraq Mosul 12 6 Two suicide bombers take out a dozen Iraqis in separate attacks.

7/15/2008 Pakistan Khyber 7 5 Rival Islamic groups continue to work out their differences by shooting at each other (seven more dead).

7/15/2008 Chechnya Grozny 1 3 A local cop is murdered in a staged Mujahideen ambush.

7/14/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 2 2 Two woman are murdered in a shooting attack by Mujahideen.

7/14/2008 Afghanistan Paktika 7 2 Sunni extremists take out a car with a roadside bomb, killing seven civilians.

7/14/2008 India Doda 1 2 Islamists toss a grenade into a police station, killing at least one local officer.

7/14/2008 Thailand Songkhla 1 1 A local security patrol is ambushed by Islamic militants, leaving one member dead.

7/14/2008 Iraq Baghdad 3 14 Three people are killed when a Muslim terrorist tosses a grenade into a gathering.

7/14/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Islamic militia gun down a man sitting in a tea shop.

7/14/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 4 4 Islamic militia kill four local soldiers in two ambushes.

7/13/2008 Iraq Baghdad 11 18 Eleven Iraqis are killed in at least three Mujahid attacks around the country.

7/13/2008 Afghanistan Oruzgan 25 30 A suicide attack near a busy market leaves over two dozen people dead.

7/13/2008 Pakistan Khyber 6 10 Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam continue to work out their differences (six more dead).

7/13/2008 Pakistan Kharqamar 1 0 A civilian is abducted and beheaded by devoted members of the Religion of Peace.

7/12/2008 Pakistan Tirah 7 5 Two women are among seven people killed in clashes between rival Islamist groups.

7/12/2008 Afghanistan Ghazi 2 0 The Taliban force two female prostitutes to their knees, then shoot them.

7/12/2008 Afghanistan Bargi Matal 1 0 A youth is killed defending his village from a Taliban attack.

7/12/2008 Iraq Mosul 3 4 A woman and two local cops are murdered by Sunni radicals in separate attacks.

7/12/2008 Iraq Tal Afar 7 0 The bodies of seven people kidnapped by Islamic terrorists are discovered.

7/12/2008 Algeria Beni Djemaa 1 0 Fundamentalists behead a 66-year-old farmer.

7/12/2008 Pakistan Hangu 16 0 Sixteen pro-government tribesmen are killed by the Taliban, eight by execution.

7/12/2008 Afghanistan Helmand 4 5 A Fedayeen bomber in a suicide vest kills four local soldiers on routine patrol.

7/12/2008 Chechnya Grozny 1 2 Mujahideen detonate a bomb hidden in a trash can, killing one person.

7/11/2008 Somalia Taredishe 1 0 Suspected Islamic militia gun down two aid workers in separate attacks as they are handing out food.

7/11/2008 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 The head of a Shia mosque is murdered by Sunni gunmen.

7/10/2008 India Kupwara 1 1 Islamic militants ambush two local police, killing one.

7/10/2008 Pakistan Kurram 7 12 The Taliban kill seven civilians in two landmine attacks.

7/10/2008 Pakistan Bajaur 1 2 Islamic militants kill a 15-year-old girl in a targeted rocket attack on a home.

7/10/2008 Somalia Baidoa 2 4 Two local soldiers are beheaded by the Al-Shabab Islamist group.

7/10/2008 Iraq Baghdad 2 13 Two civilians are murdered when Jihadis detonate a car bomb in a residential neighborhood.

7/10/2008 Pakistan Tirah 5 15 Rival Islamist groups clash, leaving five people dead.

7/10/2008 Pakistan Khyber 8 0 Two women are among eight killed when militants fire mortars into two homes.

7/10/2008 Pakistan Dosli 1 0 A doctor is shot four times in the chest. A note pinned to the body accuses him of 'opposing Islam and Jihad.'

7/10/2008 Somalia Afgyoye 1 0 Islamists with automatic weapons shoot a Christian man to death for not praying toward Mecca.

7/9/2008 Iraq Baghdad 6 8 Muslim gunmen fire inside a rival mosque, murdering four attendees.

7/9/2008 Pakistan Mardan 2 1 Islamic militants fire on a police van, killing two officers.

7/9/2008 Lebanon Tripoli 4 54 Four people are killed in a Religion of Peace sectarian clash.

7/9/2008 Ingushetia Muzhichi 3 0 Islamic rebels kill three local policemen in a shooting attack.

7/9/2008 Turkey Istanbul 3 0 al-Qaeda gunmen stage a brutal attack on the US consulate that leaves three guards dead.

7/9/2008 Iraq Baqubah 4 11 Jihadis bomb a funeral procession, killing four mourners.

7/9/2008 Iraq Fallujah 6 18 Six elderly people are blown apart by a double bombing at a mosque.

7/9/2008 Iraq Mosul 8 41 Eight Iraqis are murdered by Mujahideen bombers.

7/9/2008 Pakistan Kurram 1 1 One man is killed and another loses his leg after an encounter with the handiwork of Taliban bombers.

7/9/2008 Jordan Mafraq 1 0 A 16-year-old girl is stabbed to death by her brother on suspicion of pre-marital sex.

7/9/2008 Sudan Umm Hakibah 7 22 Janjaweed militants attack a group of Africans working as UN peacekeepers, killing seven.

7/8/2008 Pakistan Karachi 1 37 Religious hardliners set off a series of bombs, killing at least one person.

7/8/2008 Pakistan Bara 5 3 Hardliners ambush a security vehicle, killing five local cops.

7/8/2008 Iraq Ramadi 22 0 Twenty-two victims of sectarian violence are discovered buried at an elementary school.

7/8/2008 Iraq Mosul 4 8 Sunni bombers kill four contractors traveling in a vehicle.

7/8/2008 Thailand Pattani 2 0 A husband and wife team of laborers is shot, showered with gas and then burned by radical Muslims.

7/8/2008 Philippines Pagangan 1 0 A farmer is killed following an ambush by Moro Islamists.

7/7/2008 Thailand Pattani 2 3 Islamists open fire on a bus full of Buddhist teenagers, killing two guards.

7/7/2008 Iraq Baghdad 17 40 Various attacks by the Mujahideen leave about seventeen innocent people dead, including women.

7/7/2008 Somalia Baidoa 2 7 al-Shabab terrorists attack a government facility, killing two people.

7/7/2008 Afghanistan Kabul 65 147 Sunni hardliners bomb an Indian embassy, killing over sixty people, including seventeen children.

7/7/2008 Pakistan Swat 1 0 A religious leader is killed by rival Muslims.

7/7/2008 Pakistan Quetta 1 0 A Shia lawyer is shot to death by sectarian rivals.

7/6/2008 Pakistan Islamabad 19 23 A brutal suicide attack by a teenager near a market and a police station leaves about two dozen dead and many more maimed and bloodied.

7/6/2008 Pakistan Quetta 1 1 A prominent Shia is killed in a sectarian killing that also leaves a young boy injured.

7/6/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Islamists gun down a UN official in charge of development.

7/6/2008 Philippines Kauswagan 5 0 Five people are killed in a shooting attack on a bus by suspected Moro Islamic terrorists.

7/6/2008 Iraq Mussayab 1 0 Suspected fundamentalists kidnap and torture a woman to death.

7/6/2008 Iraq Jalawla 7 12 Seven members of the same family are murdered by a well-placed roadside bomb.

7/6/2008 Iraq Baghdad 6 14 Jihadis kill six Iraqis with a car bomb.

7/6/2008 USA Atlanta, Georgia 1 0 A devout Muslim strangles his 25-year-old daughter in an honor killing.

7/5/2008 Thailand Yala 4 4 Muslim gunmen open up on a crowd eating breakfast at a tea shop, killing four.

7/5/2008 Iraq Mosul 3 6 Islamic militants manage to kill three Iraqis in two bombing and shooting attacks.

7/5/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 6 0 A married couple is blown up with four others by a bomb planted by Islamic fundamentalists.

7/4/2008 Afghanistan Maidan-Wardak 2 5 Two Afghan security personnel are taken out in a Taliban bombing.

7/4/2008 Thailand Yala 1 1 Islamists shoot a Buddhist, hammer nails through his hands, behead him and then set his body on fire. The man's son is seriously injured as well.

7/4/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A retired schoolteacher is gunned down by Islamic militants.

7/4/2008 Thailand Yala 1 0 Muslim radicals shoot a 42-year-old man to death.

7/4/2008 India Kupwara 5 0 Five Indian army personnel are massacred in a Mujahideen ambush.

7/4/2008 Afghanistan Kandahar 1 0 Islamic hardliners are suspected in the assassination of a local official walking home from work.

7/3/2008 Thailand Yala 1 0 A school principal is shot to death by Muslim radicals.

7/3/2008 Iraq Baghdad 4 8 Four Iraqis are blown apart by an Islamist bomb.

7/3/2008 Afghanistan Kandahar 8 3 Eight local police are killed in a brutal ambush by Sunni militants.

7/3/2008 Somalia Hiiran 10 0 Ten civilians are killed in an ambush by Islamic militia.

7/3/2008 Iraq Samarra 14 0 Fourteen victims of Sunni terrorists are discovered in a mass grave.

7/3/2008 Pakistan Khyber 5 4 Five people are killed when rival Islamist groups clash.

7/2/2008 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Islamic gunmen murder a woman shortly after she drops her daughter off at school.

7/2/2008 India Bhaderwah 1 20 A man later dies of injuries suffered when Islamists toss a grenade into the street.

7/2/2008 Afghanistan Logar 5 0 The Taliban murder five local soldiers with a roadside blast.

7/2/2008 Afghanistan Nimroz 5 2 Five people are murdered by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.

7/2/2008 Iraq Baghdad 3 6 A streetsweeper is among three people killed in a Mujahideen roadside bombing.

7/2/2008 Israel Jerusalem 3 57 Two teachers, including a mother, are among three people are killed when a Palestinian goes on a violent rampage with a bulldozer.

7/1/2008 Philippines Aleosan 1 0 A Christian man is shot to death after refusing to give up his property to Moro Islamic Front raiders.

7/1/2008 Iraq Mosul 2 32 Two Jihad bombs leave two dead and about forty wounded.

7/1/2008 Iraq Mandali 4 16 A Fedayeen suicide bomber sends four Iraqis to Allah.

7/1/2008 Iraq Buhriz 3 1 Three members of the same family are murdered by Mujahideen bombers.

7/1/2008 Pakistan Swat 5 3 An elderly woman is among five people shot to death by Islamists in four separate attacks.

7/1/2008 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 2 7 Taliban bombers kill two local policemen.

7/1/2008 Somalia Mataban 53 40 Fifty-three people are killed in a series of ambushes by Islamic militants.

6/30/2008 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 46-year-old man is shot to death by Islamic terrorists.

6/30/2008 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Muslim radicals kidnap and kill a humanitarian aid worker.

6/29/2008 Pakistan Swat 1 0 A civilian is beheaded by Sunni radicals.

6/29/2008 Afghanistan Farah 4 5 Religious extremists attack a local police post, killing four officers.

6/29/2008 Iraq Udhaim 3 0 Mujahid kill two women and a child with a mortar attack on their home.

6/29/2008 Pakistan Swat 6 5 Islamic militants kill six people in at least two separate bombings.

6/29/2008 Iraq Duluiya 7 3 A Fedayeen suicide bomber murders seven Iraqis.

6/28/2008 Iraq Samarrah 7 0 Seven dead torture victims, including a woman, are found in an al-Qaeda hideout.

6/28/2008 Iraq Samarrah 50 0 A mass grave is discovered containing women and children among fifty people rounded up by Sunni militants and executed.

6/28/2008 Pakistan Khyber 8 5 A sectarian disagreement leaves eight dead.

6/28/2008 Afghanistan Faryab 8 0 Eight local cops are ambushed and killed by Talibanis.

6/28/2008 Lebanon Tripoli 2 25 Shia terrorists detonate a bomb in an apartment building, killing two residents.

6/27/2008 Iraq Khanaqin 1 2 Islamic militants kill a shepherd with a well-placed bomb.

6/27/2008 Pakistan Damadola 2 0 A mob screaming "Allah Akbar" slits the throats of two Afghans, then beheads them.

6/27/2008 Iraq Shurqat 2 3 al-Qaeda takes out two Iraqis with a roadside blast.

6/27/2008 Chechnya Vedeno 4 0 Four police are ambushed and killed by Jihad fighters.

6/27/2008 Algeria Jijel 6 14 Six security personnel are taken out by al-Qaeda gunmen.

6/27/2008 Thailand Narathiwat 1 1 A 36-year-old civilian is shot to death by Mujahid after dropping his children off at school.

6/27/2008 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 64-year-old man is murdered by Islamic gunmen.

6/26/2008 Iraq Karma 20 24 A Fedayeen suicide bomber murders twenty innocents.

6/26/2008 Iraq Mosul 17 62 Jihadis successfully take out seventeen Iraqis with a well-placed car bomb.

6/26/2008 Pakistan Barikot 7 0 Islamists burn down a girls school and kill a family of seven.

6/25/2008 Somalia Deynile 9 0 Nine local police are ambushed and killed by Islamic militia.

6/25/2008 Iraq Baghdad 5 25 Two Jihad bombings leave five Iraqis dead.

6/25/2008 Pakistan Jandola 28 0 Twenty-eight members of a local peace council are murdered by the Taliban.

6/24/2008 Afghanistan Herat 1 0 A policewoman is murdered by fundamentalists as she is walking home from work.

6/24/2008 Somalia Kismayo 1 2 A local official is assassinated by suspected Islamists.

6/24/2008 Lebanon Tripoli 1 0 Another person is killed in a sectarian clash.

6/24/2008 Iraq Mosul 2 75 A baby is among two people killed by a Fedayeen suicide bomber.

6/24/2008 Iraq Baghdad 11 11 Eleven people are killed when Islamic militants set off a bomb at a government building.



Islam never asks for forgiveness.

It demands obedience.

 

[Atilla]

11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings - Wikipedia, the free en...

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6/24/2008 Iraq Baghdad 11 11 Eleven people are killed when Islamic militants set off a bomb at a government building.



Islam never asks for forgiveness.

It demands obedience.

Forgive me but I miss your point.



Which of these terrorist acts caused the US to invade Iraq?



Is bombing religious ceremonies of weddings a Christian thing or some kind of sport for pilots?

How stupid does a pilot have to be not to recognise the difference?

Do you recognise the difference by a civil wedding ceremony and bombs raining down on you?

Do you recognise the difference about waking up a family raping their daughter and burning all their bodies to destory evidence and then planting some rifles to make it look like they shot back?

Why isn't one of these well documented trials on your extensive list of terrorising civilians?



You are very sad and severely brainwashed with Bush mentality.

Do us a favour and stick this on your extensive list too.

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Afghans sacked over deadly strike

 

[dick_dastardly]

Forgive me but I miss your point.



Which of these terrorist acts caused the US to invade Iraq?



Is bombing religious ceremonies of weddings a Christian thing or some kind of sport for pilots?

How stupid does a pilot have to be not to recognise the difference?

Do you recognise the difference by a civil wedding ceremony and bombs raining down on you?

Do you recognise the difference about waking up a family raping their daughter and burning all their bodies to destory evidence and then planting some rifles to make it look like they shot back?

Why isn't one of these well documented trials on your extensive list of terrorising civilians?



You are very sad and severely brainwashed with Bush mentality.

Do us a favour and stick this on your extensive list too.

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Afghans sacked over deadly strike

Perhaps the BBC are nothing but a bunch of lying puppets.

Perhaps there was no bombing of innocent civilians at a wedding ceremony.

Perhaps 89 people didn't get killed and it's all just a conspiracy designed to stir up hatred against the US and provide an excuse to launch attacks against US citizens.

Perhaps I'm just believing whatever it is I want to believe so that the evidence fits with my version of reality.


dd

 

[Atilla]

I have been trying to formulate a reply to this most interesting points raised on some of the aspects of religion, faith, existence and our purpose on life that - to be honest I am really strugling with it all.

Questions always simmering deep down and more recently risen to the surface with events arounds us, colleagues at work, subsequently borrowing Richard Dorkin's book and very much this blogg too.

I've been thinking about the questions and subjects off and on for good few days now. The other morning lying in bed felt quite utterly dumb founded. I then thought about the merry go round analogy and said to me self, it's about time I got back on the ride and it really uplifted me, once I stepped down stairs with the kids and family chores getting back to usual circle of life again.

Here my thoughts below on some of the intriguing comments that have added to my conundrum.

Apologies for the long blogg :clover:

I'm enjoying this discussion immensely. Atilla and cryten, warm-hearted thinkers, I hope you don't mind if I address a couple of random points in a haphazard manner.



I think most of us are invigorated by the complete lack of objective purpose and thus concentrate on making the most of a finite life, by imbuing it with as much personal meaning and purpose as we possibly can, through our thoughts, aspirations, relationships and actions. It is only by examining the history and context of our existence and behaviour that we can make a game stab at the essence.

Having spent some time pondering I wonder how much is our personal making or as determined collectively as in the we or society. Are we led or do we choose to follow along? Ultimately statement is a very succinct true one.

The idea of fully understanding how our consciousness works seems futile, or at least an amusing paradox, however, as we are by definition caught in the middle of the experiment, unable to look down on our subject as we might a mouse or a proton.

I don't think the questions are futile but see it is of no consequence to life it self. Perplexing damn paradox to me.

However, the underlined statement I never thought of this way but if I think of events, what can be so important to participants (ie boxing) is of no importance to observers (unless they have a bet on the outcome). But the perception we are in the middle of an experiment is a good one for me and related to how one views results.

The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.

I'm not sure about this as I honestly don't know what to expect. In fact the thought of a universe of space in it's entirety doesn't rest well with me. Makes me feel uncomfortable and distressed.



Indeed, people like Richard have fervently asked "Why? How?" etc. for most of their lives and have found enlightenment in so doing. Painstaking examination of the evidence leads to the view that we are on it due to natural selection and we get off after up to roughly a century. We are left to make the most of it.

This doesn't have any answers to me. It raises questions. Seems plausible but certainly not science. I say this sincerely. I feel your statement later on that Social Darwinism doesn't automatically follow is my take on it in summary. This is where the physical element stops. Or this is where I am struggling personaly. I hope to read up on "The Origins of Virtue" as Altruism and Selflessness conflict with the physical aspects of life.

You mention love as as intangible but universally recognised force and thus a possible parallel to god. Love is merely a chemical interaction in the brain. When we're in first flush of it, we're pumping out dopamine, serotonin and possibly other stimulants. We feel high, we don't eat properly, our brains feel flossed with cheesewire, time speeds up, empathy flows etc. In the aftermath of sex, petit mal as the French call it, we squirt out some oxytoxin to makes us feel all cosy with our partner. We need to feel cosy so we can improve the chances of passing our genes on by breeding and then stick around to help rear the creature. All of this can be measured with (I think) MRI or similar brain scanning technology. Does it debase the emotion, unweave the rainbow, render futile reams of John Donne's finest? Not in the slightest. The feeling is utterly real to us because that's how our brains work. After all, sobriety also is a chemical state (that some of us can only handle for a part of the day, as someone once said .

I think these aspects can be observed but not measured. They can't even be explained. Once again plausible explanations to observations can be made but it doesn't satisfy my reasoning.

I feel we are at levels 1 and 2 below in explaining it all.

1. Wind is caused by trees swaying left and right. If you wave your hand in front of your face it causes wind. Hence must be trees moving left and right causing wind. (This is perhaps what first man might have believed)
2. Wind causes trees to move. Supposition with cause and effect. We don't know the answer but seeing there is wind in the desert where there are no trees may lead us to draw this conclusion?
3. Heat rises and cold air fills it's place causing air currents that flow! This is the reason as far as we know. (May change in the future as our understanding become deeper, who knows?)

Observing chemical changes in the brain or to put it crudely genital stimulation doesn't explain how it all works imo. I'm not satisfied with why one female specimen gets my mojo working more than another so to speak...


What exactly do you mean by soul? Genuine question. Do you see it as something separate from the body, perhaps that lives after death or do you simply mean "how emotions and thoughts appear to us while we experience them", to put it badly.

This is a tough question I don't know but lean towards the soul/spirit being a passenger in the physical body. The body is a carrier. If you ask the question does Darwin theory of evolution apply to the soul all kinds of confusion takes place. What is our soul competing with? Well there are paradoxies as we all know in choosing right and wrong, action guilt conscience and etc etc... It's all very deep and as much as I would like to know and understand I feel limited in capacity to understand it all.

Linked below is an interesting chat "Is science killing the soul?" with Pinker and Dawkins.

'Is Science Killing the Soul?' by Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Edge - RichardDawkins.net



Prescription drugs such as Seroxat and Prozac are crude and work for some people and not others. It is imho simplistic to assume that dosing everyone with a single serotonin derivative is going to sort out every case of clinical depression. It is using a lump hammer when a set of jeweller's screwdrivers would probably be more apt. In addition it is easily forgotten, especially by harried prescribing doctors, that temporary melancholy is a natural and healthy condition for humans. We do like to invent conditions for the drugs we've just invented to "cure". But yes, they do improve the lives of some, while probably making those of others worse.

I'm not sure about this. Yes medicine helps with physical aspects but not with social or anything of the mind. I wouldn't call it a cure. Temporary sedation.

In moderation they can be wonderful. It is all a matter of balance. There is a world of difference between enhancing/celebrating and escaping. The latter is usually a sticking plaster applied in the wrong place. Taking drugs often mimics what our own bodies produce anyway, e.g. heroin for endorphins, pills for serotonin, so if we're happy already, well think of it as an interest free credit card. Just be sure to pay off the balance every month.

Not sure about this. Doesn't explain initial reaction to events that trigger this response. eg: Humour. What is funny to one person can be hate inducing to another. Alcohol some people aggressive and others happy and helpful. Mild people turn agressive and aggressive ones can become your best buddies. All very strange... Not to mention side effects with most drugs.

I admire the curious ones. The majority don't even bother. Incidentally, I can't imagine anything worse than living for ever. Seriously, can you imagine it? There's a great section in A History of the World in 10.5 chapters by Julian Barnes about this. Worth it for the glorious description of the perfect full English breakfast alone. Chap finds himself in heaven with the perfect life. Guess what happens after a few centuries? Mmm bacon. Anyway I digress. Two hundred years would be sweet though. We'll probably manage that soon enough.

This makes me wonder if men achieve all their objectives in life whether it would be time for them to die. For example once the Romans lets say conquered all of the world what would they have said or done next?

My take on life span is I like to exist as long as my children are mature enough to take care of them selves - graduated with a career they enjoy. Icing on the cake would be to see them married and couple of grand children. I think I will then be ready for what ever. But imo God or my creator what ever that force is knows. If I die before then, I will be looking to see what's happening behind me, unable to rest so to speak.

Ah remembered my final point. I think you mentioned the idea of all humans knowing in their heart when they were doing right or wrong, because they feel a universal moral sense. Therefore it follows there must be an objective morality in the universe from which we can draw. Forgive me if I'm misquoting you freely, it's as late as I am lazy. I agree there is a universal moral sense found in humans, but it is completely our construct. We need one, again, to help our genes propagate. It is a good idea in general not to steal, murder and steal wives etc. if one wants to rear healthy children who enjoy longevity, especially when one lives in a small community. So I think we come with inbuilt moral software to help steer us on the right track, much as we have an instinct to drink water and seek shelter. We then learn the details from our parents. It's a bit like the universal grammar of language.
Of course, unfortunately as rational beings we have the choice to ignore these fundamentals and behave like ********s. A cat with the same instinct does not, which is why I often prefer their piercingly honest company to humans'. The heartwarming thing is, despite this Darwinist rush of the fittest to survive under orders from their nasty selfish genes, social Darwinism does not automatically follow. The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley is a really interesting read that examines all the genetic reasons for altruism and selflessness among humans and shows that we can be bloody nice people despite our genes wishing to get ahead.

I did say this about morality at the start but was corrected by Cryten and I agree I got it wrong. I concur it is our own construct as idealogy can be tought and children brainwashed or formed with opions that are not their own. Free will and ideas etc. Lucky ones may question and choose for them selves. Unlucky ones may not have the choice or capacity to question.

I disagree about having morals to help our genes propogate though. I don't think we need morals on a physical level to propogate. Quite the contrary if you ask me on a physical level.

That adults have belief in god(s) has always confounded me, although I realise that when one is a child, when brain is in automatic fully-trusting mode - as it has to be - it is easy to be led astray and this can be hard to shake off even as one grows independent and curious. And, fair enough, if a personal belief (provided it is not forced on others) gives someone comfort, who am I to assail it? God knows, I have a head full of irrationality. But I admire people like Richard who encourage people to do their own research with the facts we have in front of us. It's a pity he is always edited on TV to come across like an angry Professor Yaffle cause he is actually rather meek and charming. Still, ratings matter more than honesty to the media Tristrams. Also, The God Delusion is imho the least interesting and cogently argued of his books; some of his earlier ones are far better.

I find belief in God simple and comforting. It fills the blanks. On a scale of trees I don't know where we are between 1, 2 or 3 but it still answers a lot of questions for me. Call me simple if one wants but perhaps it's age, faith or blind reason I don't know but sincerely such are my thoughts.

 

[Atilla]

Thanks for your comments jiuk. Indeed, you're right, I do try to distinguish between them, but I'm not sure why a wholesale reevaluation is necessary. Lust is the primitive urge that sets things in motion, love comes a little later, presumably if the subconscious detects a potentially good genetic match, then attachment. These three stages make sense.



"I think the sex drive evolved to get you out there to get looking for anything at all. Romantic love developed to focus one’s mating energy on just one individual while attachment works to tolerate this individual long enough to raise children as a team."

Quote paraphrased from here

CS Lewis thought there were four loves: Eros (+ Venus i.e. lust), Charity, Affection and Friendship, I think, and he had a point. I don't love my friends in exactly the same way I love my wife. But then again I'm not trying to raise a child with my friends, so I'd expect the chemistry to be different. Anyway we'd better not derail this thread too much.

You're right, after hitting thirty I'm not so keen on the mirror these days

I have a problem in deciphering Darwin's theory of evolution here.

On a physical level the most successul I would have to say - based on popullation sizes are:

1. Indians - 1+ bn and
2. Chineese - 1+ bn

On the contrary, these areas have arranged marriages where the female and some of the time male have little say in the matter.

Also, as I learn from my many Indian friends the level of extended families and protocol within them all are very complex.

In the West with our reduced social obligations and nuclear families we produce so much less despirt concept of free sex (lust) and free love.

In summary lust and love don't quite explain the most successful breeding humans on earth using Darwin's or Dorkin's theory.