Hi all,

I have thought long and hard before posting this, but since coming home from wondering around town today, and seeing the reactions of a few people felt I have to say what I want to.

March 11 was a terrible day for Spain in particular and for the world in general but now that the wailing and gnashing of teeth is over, we should still remember the victims.

Today, walking around Madrid, whilst all the royal wedding stupidity (I’m Not a royalist but that is beside the point), was going on I sat down to have a cup of coffee.

Homelessness doesn’t from my eye seem to be the problem here, that it is in London or Paris, but I watched people today abusing beggars at worst and circling them at best.

The victims of the bombings did not all die.

There will be people whose lives have been wrecked even though they carry no scars. I want you for one second to imagine the wreckage of a human body that an explosive device can cause. Firstly, amongst the survivors there will be the burns and missing limbs.

There will be people who will from that day onward will no longer father or mother children, genitalia and reproductive organs ripped and torn.

There will be burn victims whose faces will disturb you. You will not want to turn away and stare, but that human part of you will want to see anyway.

There will be people who through no fault of their own, will now feel fear every time they the sound of a train pass, who will break into sweats at every loud noise, like a firework. They may not be able to work anymore, they may break into tears at the thought of lost lives and hopes.

Let one good thing come from the terrible events of March 11, let it reawaken your compassion. Remember that there but for the grace god (whichever you follow) goes you.

The Keeper.

Keeper,

I totally agree with you post. It's your signature I'm having a real problem grasping.

If "everything you know is wrong", then how could you make that statement? After all, a statement is based on what you know.

Am I overthinking the problem?

Everything you know is wrong is a quote from Robert Anton Wilson. It means that you can prove nothing in total certainty. I believe that there is nothing you can prove, only opinions exist therefore no contradiction.

This goes to show, never allow arabs into your nation. I might offend some people on this forum, especially the overly "Sensitive" anti-racist ones, (and might get banned as a result), but there are others who will agree with me on this. Arabs have always attacked, slaughtered, and enslaved others and often themselves in the past. They should not be allowed to attack others any longer.

If I have offended you, I am NOT sorry.

El Cid d'España, I'm sad to read your racist posting, generalizing an entire people for the actions of a few fanatics.

Very sincerely, MadridMan

I'm not racist. I'm just angry.

I'm not looking to start a fight here, but I feel compelled to respond. El Cid, I hurt for people like you who feel the need to make comments like that. Stereotyping an entire group based on the actions of a subset of that group gets us nowhere. I'm not arab, and I'm not from an arab country, yet one of my best friends, is from Iran, now living and studying in the states for the past 2 years. He is not a terrorist, nor is his family. He is in our country trying to improve himself, so that one day he can go back to his country and try to make a difference.

I'm sad that Madridman is sad, yet doesn't delete the post.

And you probably won't offend too many people, El Cid. There are a lot of right-wing Arab haters on this site.

I will pray for you.

Silvita,

That's an interesting comment. Now you're categorizing people and determining they are racist. That sounds kind of bigoted to me.

I agree that we can't judge all by a few. Since I have close friends who are Muslims (throw out that "Arab" crap, they come from all nations, and many are blacks, others caucasians), I think we have a problem that isn't going to go away until we start to see a change in the Muslim community, where they start to help in the process of ferreting out the "would-be" terrorists. At this point its very little help if any, since they are sticking together in many respects, and saying it isn't their place to do anything against a fellow Muslim.

Add in the fact that many of the Mosques here in the US have "sleepers" who are potential terrorists, and wouldn't mind killing their own to protect their identity, it's difficult for them to step forward and take a stand. They need help from society to do it, and at this point, its not there, and there's too much distrust of anyone who is a Muslim.

But, Silvita, you really have to put aside your own prejudices to be able to call people bigots like you are. Even though I disagree with the poster who says "no Muslims allowed," I find your comment just as caustic.

You've just insulted your friend by saying he's an Arab. Just ask him. Many Iranians aren't Arab at all. However, I respect your opinion and wouldn't dredge upon it. Just because I distrust Arabs doesn't make me a racist.

El Cid d'España wrote: Ummm.. Yeah. I think it does.

Many people OUTSIDE of Spain believe that all Basques are terrorists too and we (here) all know that's completely false.

Silvita,

Arab-haters don't have to be 'right-wing.' But since fanatics can only be 'right-wing' in your logic I suppose that's all you could muster up.

Your attempts to categorize, and your bigoted statements are offensive. It's also sad that you are asking Madridman to censor a post you find distasteful, since after all, it is the selective open-mindedness of those that think like you that intend to promote freedom of speech.

The_Keeper_at_Home, since I showed up at Atocha station 30 minutes after the bombings, I will never forget what a bloody human body being stuffed into a taxi because there are not enough ambulances looks like.

andrew

It really isn't about Arabs. It probably isn't about "Islam" in general. But it IS a religous war with a faction of Islam. The sooner the world recognizes that and starts to identify ways to identify the participants, the faster we can protect succeeding generations.

It would seem like a good place to start would be to identify the Saudi sponsored "Jihad Schools" and those that have attended them. I would certainly like for my country to refuse them visas and to rescind those that we have issued to former students.

ernie

Actually, El Cid, my friend does identify himself as an Arab, in his own words. Enough said. Whats truley sad is that he has not even been able to go home to Iran for 2 years, for fear that if he does go back, he will not be allowed to re-enter the USA again, because of his student visa status.

Whatever...

Then I was wrong in saying he was an arab. Many Iranians hate the Arabs like the Black Plague, even more so than what I am capable of. It probably has to do with the fact that Saddam gassed a few unfortunate Iranians near the Iran-Iraq border during the 80's.

As for his fear of not returning back the United States, you can blame the terrorists, the "Bush Adminstration"(If it's even a real one ), and the Department of "Homeland" Security.

My Regards.

"As for his fear of not returning back the United States, you can blame the terrorists, the "Bush Adminstration"(If it's even a real one ), and the Department of "Homeland" Security."

While you are blaming, blame those of us that think the biggest problem the Bush administration has is its unwillingness to get real about the need to take a more stringent approach to sorting visa applications. No where does the US constitution guarantee the right of free entry to the US. Any potential terrorist should be kept out. I would rather see a few people lose their ability to enter the US than a lot of people killed. There are great places to study elsewhere, why the need to come to the US? After all, a great number of people are happy to talk about what a lousy place it is!

ernie