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Thu Aug 3 02:21:51 BST 2006

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 KMATTOX at aol.com wrote:

> Tom:  I daily read several middle east electronic  magazines.   I am also
> completely aware of the extremely liberal and  sometimes not so pro American
> stances of the New York Times.   No one  who knows this background would ever put
> any stock in the article you  cite.   Furthermore, it is totally different
> from what I am reading  from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and many
> regional countries, whose  primary religion is Islam.

With all due respect Dr. Mattox, what you hear from the press will vary
with where the hearing is coming from.  I have no doubt that Fox or some
other right-leaning rag can be found with reports that support your
assertions, just as there are an equal number of middle or left-leaning
rags spouting entirely different stories.  All *people* are biased (lets
face it, it impossible *not* to be "biased" - it's a pre-programmed
-survival skill-), so it follows that all of the various news and
other "entertainment" outlets are "biased" as well.  That said, I know
many persons in the region, and have had conflicting *personal reports*.
It's likely impossible to actually make a factual determination as to what
is or is not "the reaction" of the general populace - attempting to argue
from any position that relies on such a supposition is inherently faulty.

It is perfectly possible to have "one who knows this background"
"put[ting] stock in the article [Dr. Horan] cite[d]".  Just as it is
possible for the converse to be true here.

I personally believe in the evidence based model, and I believe most of
the subscribers here do as well.  If the various pundits would formulate
their sundry positional arguments from evidence that was not subject to
opposing opinions (i.e., evidence which is accepted as "valid" by all of
the many factions), I suspect that (1) these "debates" would be far less
heated, and (2) there would rapidly be a consensus formed, as evidence
would be allowed to light our paths, rather than the light of firery
fights.

-- 
Yours,

J.A. Terranson
sysadmin at mfn.org
0xBD4A95BF

"A nation's success or failure in achieving democracy is judged in part by
how well it responds to those at the bottom and the margins of the social
order... The very problems that democratic change brings -- social
tension, heightened expectations, political unrest -- are also strengths.
Discord is a sign of progress afoot; unease is an indication that a
society has let go of what it knows and is working out something better
and new."

Sandra Day O'Connor

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