Ciao!

It's a very little known fact that the real reason for Islamic terrorism is poor housing code enforcement along Arab Street.

Interesting, Tom. Care to elaborate?

It's like this. Arab Street is located in a very hot place, the middle east. It's mostly desert. The Arabs traditonally built houses that tend to trap in coolness, but when the summer heats ratchets up, it gets mighty darn warm in those homes. Modern Arab leaders established power grids and introduced the air conditioner several years ago, around the time of the establishment of Israel. At this time Israel absorbed the area into it's freshly-minted soverignty, which angered many Palestinians, especially when Israelis kicked them out of ancestral homes and converted old mosques into discotheqes. But the Arabs muddled along, because what the hell, they had air conditioning in the middle of the desert and all was well.

But then the Israelis messed up. I mean they really fucked up. They permitted landlords to cut the power to Palestinian homes, which in turn brought Palestinian air conditioners to a grinding halt. Palestinians asked Israel to enforce the code and force landlords to turn on the power so they could enjoy air conditioning. The Israelis refused, citing rising costs of administering the local occupational government. They said that without more tax money from the Palestinians, they couldn't afford the housing inspectors required to enforce the code. Palestinians were shit out of luck, because they used a form of barter economy, and any jobs that paid a form of currency were eliminated as Israel seized the capital resources of the former Palestinian state.

As the temperatures in Palestinian homes rose, tempers boiled. Palestinians poured into the streets demanding some comfort. They called for enforcement of standard housing codes put in place by the Israelis, only to be told that the codes were being revised, they didn't have the money anyway, so Palestinians would have to find alternative ways to keep cool. Like swimming in a swimming pool, which was a cruel joke, because hell, they were in the middle of a desert.

Eventually the Arab nation took up the Palestinian cause, and the whole Arab Street shook with fury and hot flashes. Small pockets of resistance formed, which sabotaged Israeli power plants to cut power to jewish air conditioners. The Jews of Israel rolled tanks into Palestinian enclaves, where Palestinians pelted the Israeli tanks and soldiers with rocks. The soldiers opened fire.

The Palestinans and other Arabs, clearly outmatched by fighter jets, tanks and superior firepower and training of Israeli soldiers, looked to Allah for help. "Please Allah, bring justice to this world," they pleaded. One day, many years into the conflict, one Palestinian had a vision: he claimed Allah spoke to him through a dream and said, "Kill them, my child, blow them to pieces and thou shalt have the justice thou hast requested. Bomb them and thou shall have air conditioning, and shall therefore have the divine ability to watch Jay Leno and reruns of Knight Rider in the cool comfort of your own homes." Soon after the messenger conveyed his vision to his militant compatriots, Islamic terrorism began.

All this could've been avoided if Israelis had just taken the time to ensure Palestinian homes had power to their a/c. We know the rest of the tragic story.

:P

My internet is still spotty. We missed you at poker the other night. You should give me a ring sometime. I tried to call the number in the footer of your email address. It didn't work however. Ask me about getting you into track racing. It is awesome!