Suggested Answers - Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO SHORT QUIZ

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Intro = As usual, the quiz had to be written before reading the book and, accordingly - (1) some of the questions simply reviewed what we know from other books we have studied, (2) many additional questions have answers that "yours truly" thought should be relevant to our discussion, and (3) a few questions "yours truly" hoped would be answered in "Monsoon."

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And before getting started, here's a bonus question for next weekend's newsletter which should be especially fun for movie lovers --

Hollywood's Coen Brothers are famous for their violent movies -- so are they descendants of Jan Pieterszoon Coen who was described on p. 266 of our book (despite the fact that European colonials were notorious for being the dregs of society back home and for treating indigenous human beings in the colonies worse than animals) as follows: "in callous disregard for human suffering, there was no one worse"!!!

[Incidentally, I don't know the answer, so if someone else has time to "chase that rabbit" and post it on the bulletin board, thank you in advance!!!]

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Question 1

How many of the world's major religions are represented around the arc of the Indian Ocean from southern Africa to Australia?

Answer 1

The world is usually thought to contain 5 major religions = Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

China has been officially atheist since the Communist takeover in 1949. However, for centuries prior to that its "religion" was Confucianism which is not, technically, a religion since there are no deities (Confucianism resembles a thick cook book full of recipes for how to behave in any of a zillion situations, giving rise to the old saw = "Confucius say 'whatever'" which purposely used the plural verb form as a sign of cultural disrespect).

Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism (which persists just like a religion in the face of adversity) each have more than 1 billion adherents.

Judaism is usually put on the list despite having fewer than 1/10th that number of adherents because Christianity is built on Judaism and Islam is built on both Judaism and Christianity [though Islam only recognizes Christ as a prophet rather than "the Messiah" foretold in hundreds of prophecies throughout the Jewish Bible (aka the Christian Old Testament)].

There is at least one large country on the Indian Ocean whose majority adheres to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism - and China is not far removed from the Indian Ocean (and may even be on it if the South China Sea is included).

Question 2

If it is true that all of the world's major religions boil down to the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"), why have major wars been fought by at least one Indian Ocean country adhering to each of the world's major religions? (NB: for readers who have been taught that Buddhism is peaceful, Japan is simultaneously more than 90% Buddhist and more than 90% Shinto (ancestor worship) and Japan began its notorious "rape of China" a decade before Pearl Harbor!)

Answer 2

Hypocrisy!!!

[NB: In order to avoid a charge of anti-Semitism, "major" in Q-2 means more than 1 billion adherents - besides Israel is not on the Indian Ocean.]

Christians have the least excuse for their hypocrisy!!! Because Christ decreed that there are only two Commandments = (1) love God, and (2) love your neighbor as yourself (which is the Golden Rule).

And digressing momentarily in honor of Jack Kevorkian ("Doctor Death") who passed away after this Quiz was compiled last weekend, please permit me to point out that the Ten Commandments, etc., are all contained in the Jewish Bible (aka The Christian Old Testament) and therefore, according to Christ, can be ignored. For that reason, "yours truly" would have no trouble with assisting a friend or relative in committing "assisted suicide" LIKE DOCTOR KEVORKIAN DID FOR HIS PATIENTS even though it is illegal to do so in almost every state except Oregon and even though Catholicism [which is closer to Judaism than Christianity because it follows at least the Ten Commandments if not most of the "laws" of the Jewish Bible (aka The Christian Old Testament)] would say that assisting someone with suicide violates "Thou Shalt Not Kill"!!!

For me, the Golden Rule is satisfied because if I were in a situation in which I would like to "pull the plug," I would hope that all the help that is needed would be forthcoming from my "neighbors." And I don't understand a society that treats human beings worse than its pets that are routinely euthanized in order to be spared unnecessary pain!!!

Enough already on theology and hypocrisy!!!

Question 3

There is a famous saying that Islam has "bloody borders" - is this true if one focuses on the borders of the religion itself rather than national borders that were largely drawn by former colonial masters with no thought to the indigenous peoples that were being grouped together or separated?

Answer 3

Yes, it is true.

In the Islamic Republics of the old Soviet Union, there was always constant unrest which still flares up in bloody military confrontations with the Soviets in, for example, Chechnya and Georgia - and even manifests itself in bombings of Moscow subways and Moscow schools by Chechnyans.

In Africa, Sudan-Darfur, Ivory Coast and Nigeria have all seen extremely-bloody conflicts IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS ALONE between Muslims and Christians.

And the Pakastini-Indian border has been the world's most "hair raising" since independence from Britain 62 years ago because, even though this conflict is Muslim-Hindu, both sides have had nuclear weapons for several decades!!!

[In the interests of brevity, mercy will now be shown the reader.]

Question 4

Further to Question 3, what happened to East Pakistan and why does it NOT have "bloody borders"?

Answer 4

"Allah only knows" - which means (since Muslims pray to the same God as Jews and Christians and Allah is the Arabic word for God) the same thing as a Christian or Jew saying "God only knows"!!!

[This is one of the few questions that were included on the list because "yours truly" thought our author might shed some light, but he didn't. After all, one would have expected Muslim Bangladesh (originally known in colonial days as India's East Bengal Province, and then as East Pakistan upon seceding with Muslim West Pakistan from India upon independence from the Brits in 1949 even though East and West Pakistan were on opposite sides of India, and then finally as Bangladesh upon seceding from Pakistan in 1971) to have "bloody borders" because it has a lengthy border with India's West Bengal Province which is Hindu and because Bangladesh also has a border with Buddhist Myanmar (aka Burma).]

Question 5

What is it about Islam that makes it so susceptible to radicalization?

Answer 5

As we have studied in the past there are three contributing factors.

First, every good Muslim believes in a fearsome Judgment Day on which s/he will be prosecuted by "Avenging Angels"!!!

Second, every good Muslim believes, however, that every martyr and 72 close relatives/friends of the martyr will skip the Judgment Day and go directly to heaven!!! [Which is why, whenever an Islamic martyr dies, news footage of the relatives will always show them rejoicing rather than mourning.]

Third, unlike say Roman Catholicism, Islam has no hierarchy and every cleric has the ability to pronounce a "fatwa" and to pronounce a "jihad" and anyone dying while executing a "fatwa" or participating in a "jihad" achieves "martyr" status!!!

Question 6

Is Islam inherently anti-feminist or is there, for example, a major Islamic population that is matrilineal? How many Islamic countries have had female Prime Ministers?

Answer 6

No, Islam is not inherently anti-feminist!!!

Sumatra (which, with Java, are the two major islands of the 17,000 islands that form Indonesia) is matrilineal - which means that only women can own property and, at death, it descends to the daughters.

Indeed, in the 1970's the Indonesian Agriculture Minister (the most important portfolio in the Indonesian cabinet) came from Sumatra and almost saw his career end when, as he was trying to convince all of Indonesia to plant "miracle rice," it became known that his own mother had refused!!! When that hit the headlines, she saved his career by promising to experiment with "miracle rice" on 10% of her land!!!

At least four Islamic countries have had females at the head of government (WHICH IS BETTER THAN THE UNITED STATES!!!) = Pakistan (Benazir Bhutto), Turkey (Tansu Ciller), Bangladesh (Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wazed), and Indonesia (Megawati Sukarnoputri) - though Indonesia has a President rather than a Prime Minister. And for philosophers and other "word smiths," India is the third-largest Moslem country even though it has a Hindu majority and Indira Ghandi served as its Prime Minister.

[Not bad considering only Iraq, of the 22-member Arab League, even has a democracy!!! - and before you all send me e-mails, the successful revolt earlier this year in Egypt was based on the popular belief that Mubarek's periodic elections were shams.]

Question 7

What is the world's largest functioning democracy?

Answer 7

India.

Question 8

Why did the United Nations abort its study in the 1990's of India's public perception of the British Raj?

Answer 8

Even at the height of the British Raj, there were never more than 10,000 Brits in India!!! They ruled through the existing structure.

Accordingly, the United Nations discovered that well over 90% of Indians in the 1990's had no idea that the Brits had ever ruled India!!! [Even during the Raj, most Indians would only have been aware of the local Rajah and Rani and would have had no idea whether they reported to anyone else.]

Question 9

Does the rapid economic growth of India, China, etc., represent little more than American and European multi-national corporations relocating their manufacturing operations to low-wage countries with the manufacturing still being performed under the supervision of, and utilizing the technology of, the MNC's? Is there any reason to suppose that the current economic growth rates of India, China, etc., are any more significant than the gargantuan growth rates of the old Soviet economy in the 1950's?

Answer 9

Yes, the growth represents little more than MNC activity.

No, there is no reason.

Question 10

What is the world's largest billionaires' club?

Answer 10

The Central Committee of the People's Republic of China.

Question 11

Why is the Central Committee of the People's Republic of China the world's largest billionaires' club?

Answer 11

Because when Mao died, the members of the Central Committee decided to become billionaires overnight!!! Like a major-sport draft of college players in the U.S., the members of the PRC Central Committee took turns choosing which state-owned Chinese company to appropriate personally free of charge!!! These companies were then all taken public in London and New York by Louis Kang.

[The remainder of this answer is offered for the sole reason of providing credibility - please skip to Q&A-12 if you're willing to credit the previous paragraph.]

During this period, Louis Kang and I were close friends because he is also an opera fanatic and we were always bumping into each other at opera performances around the world (we never had any professional dealings).

Born in Hong Kong, Louis "read law" at Oxbridge (in Britain, law is an undergraduate major rather than a professional school requiring a bachelor degree for admission) and became a partner in Clifford Chance and Jones Day though I don't recall in which order. Obviously, he switched firms in order to maximize his cut of the fees he collected from the PRC Central Committee members. [Large international law firms resemble hotels because they follow the famous Mao saying that "power comes from the gun barrels of CLIENTS!!!" so if your clients will follow you, there are always plenty of "hotels" bidding for your business.]

When all of the Chinese companies had been taken public, Louis became a venture capitalist specializing in raising funds in the West for Chinese start-ups. At that point, I severed relations with Louis.

The reason relates to a point made in FAQ-2 attached to the 5/18/2011 letter to recently-elected U.S. Senator Christopher Coons of Delaware which is posted on www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org in the third category = "Possible Topic for Fall 2011." FAQ-2 was explaining why I didn't just ask one of my super-wealthy friends for 8 figures for counsel in the lawsuits against the 15 large international financial institutions that will probably be coming to a close this Fall = although any of my super-wealthy friends could have provided 8 figures from "pocket change," you NEVER ask a super-wealthy person for a charitable contribution - but only suggest appropriate charitable OPPORTUNITIES and only at appropriate times. Unfortunately, I had introduced Louis to some of my super-wealthy friends when he was taking public the Chinese companies. And when he converted to venture capitalism, he began soliciting my super-wealthy friends OVER MY DEAD BODY for investments!!! Obviously, I had to disown him immediately!!!

Question 12

Why was economic reform in the People's Republic of China radically different from economic reform in the old Soviet Union? Did economic reform in the PRC constitute, in reality, pure capitalism with a 50% income tax rate?

Answer 12

The Soviet Union under Gorbachev was primarily industrial. Gorbachev's "capitalist reform" was to terminate any Soviet company that was not profitable - in other words, he was threatening individual Russians with unemployment if their employer wasn't profitable!!! Which, as correctly predicted by Marshall Goldman (Associate Director of Harvard's Russian Research Center) in a NY Times OpEd about six months before Gorbachev's downfall, would lead directly and swiftly to his downfall.

Goldman contrasted China at the death of Mao as still overwhelmingly agrarian. Accordingly, the "capitalist reform" in China took the form of promising all of the farmers that they could keep 50% of whatever they grew and do with it whatever they wanted. From a theoretical viewpoint, such a policy is indistinguishable from pure capitalism with a 50% income tax rate.

Question 13

Would the American and European multi-national companies ever permit any real military hostilities between their two "wholly owned" subsidiaries = America and China?

Answer 13

Of course not!!!

Question 14

How much of the world's oil is produced by countries on the Indian Ocean? By countries on the Indian Ocean's Persian Gulf (aka in recent decades the Arabian Gulf) AND DOWNWIND FROM THE PERSIAN GULF IN NUCLEAR TERMS?

Answer 14

When we last studied this 12 months ago, www.CIA.gov showed worldwide oil production at 90,030 thousand barrels/day ("mbd"), of which 27.7% was produced in the Persian Gulf and another 20.5% was produced in areas downwind from the Persian Gulf in nuclear terms - for a total of 58.2%!!!

However, if the "downwind" category is limited to countries that actually abut the Indian Ocean [principally India (3,720 mbd), Indonesia (1,051 mbd) and Malaysia (727 mbd)], the "downwind" percentage shrinks to 6.5% -- the rest is primarily in the "stans" and Eastern Russia. So the answer to the first part of the question = 34.2%.

Question 15

Are the majority of Muslims Arab or non-Arab? Did the non-Arab Muslims benefit from the pre-eminence of the Arab Empire (800 > 1800) when Europe was a very backward area of the world and the Arab Empire led the world in mathematics, astronomy, science and medicine (indeed, Arab medical texts were still the standard in Europe through the 1800's)?

Answer 15

Non-Arab.

Yes, since many of the scientific advances were invented to make possible the once-per-lifetime Pilgrimage to Mecca which required superb navigational skills to cross large deserts and large expanses of water.

[Indeed, very early in the Arab Empire, Arabs noticed that the triangle formed by the routes between three distant cities measured slightly more than 180 degrees. Accordingly, they knew that the earth could not be flat!!! And being academically inclined, they wondered what would be the dimensions of the earth if it happened to be a sphere and correctly calculated, based on the size of any of the triangles and the sum of its angles, that the circumference must be 25,000 miles and the diameter 8,000 miles.]

As our author explained, Islam spread eastward from the Middle East by Arabs who were, inter alia, superb navigators. Accordingly, their converts became very learned.

Question 16

What happened to Russian Turkestan and Chinese Turkestan (aka Sinkiang Province)?

Answer 16

Russian Turkestan fragmented into the "stans" (except Afghanistan which was always independent and Pakistan which had been part of India until independence from the Brits in 1949).

Sinkiang still exists as a Chinese Province and still has a Muslim majority though, just like Chinese policy with Tibet, ethnic Chinese are being encouraged to occupy Sinkiang and change its ethnic-religious character.

Question 17

What was the cause of the Sino-Soviet split in 1959 and why didn't Western Intelligence services believe the split was real?

Answer 17

Each country that has developed nuclear weapons typically experiments in sparsely populated areas - for example, Nevada in the case of the U.S. or Pacific atolls in the case of the French.

However, neither the Soviet Union nor the PRC cared very much for the safety of their Muslim Turks so their experiments were conducted in Russian Turkestan and Chinese Turkestan. And their nuclear scientists and laboratories, for convenience, were located there as well.

In 1959, the Muslim Turks of Russian Turkestan and Chinese Turkestan were agitating for independence and there was a charismatic leader who was threatening to make that a reality. Moreover, he was negotiating with both the Soviets and the Chinese for military protection against the other if he could unite both provinces!!!

Both the Soviets and the PRC quickly became aware that he was negotiating with both sides for protection!!! And even more chillingly, realized that the loser WOULD BECOME A NON-NUCLEAR POWER OVERNIGHT!!!

As a result, the Soviets and the PRC were quickly "at each other's throats" and each quickly clamped down with "Stalinesque policies" to improve its grip on its own nuclear province!!!

Western Intelligence services, of course, thought the 1959 Sino-Soviet split was nothing more than a charade to lull the West into a false sense of security!!!

In just 5 years, this failure to believe in the 1959 Sino-Soviet split led directly to the Vietnam War which saw the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964 result in a quick military build-up from 20 thousand advisers in country to 625 thousand American military inside Vietnam [which did NOT include any of the Naval personnel involved in aerial bombardment of Vietcong positions and, later, of Hanoi North Vietnam - or involved in offshore bombardment of Vietnamese coastal villages by U.S. naval destroyers (DDs) and guided-missile frigates (DLGs)].

In all fairness, the reasons why President Kennedy assassinated South Vietnamese President Diem less than three weeks before his own assassination and President Johnson, upon assuming office, began looking for a pretext to escalate the war are (1) a failure to believe in the Sino-Soviet split, coupled with (2) a belief that Southeast Asia was "falling like dominoes" - since India had long been in the Soviet orbit, the Huk rebellion in the Philippines was looking like it would be successful and Indonesia had just gone communist under "The Bung" (as President Sukarno was known).

[I'm not trying to provoke a discussion of the validity of the "domino theory" or trying to justify the Vietnamese War - only to say that if either Democratic President reached the "Pearly Gates," he should have been able to plead for mercy whether or not it was granted.]

Incidentally, our author never discusses Indonesia going communist under "The Bung"!!! And he refused to admit that India had long been in the Soviet camp!!!

[His book strikes "yours truly" as something written by a tour guide who is well traveled and somewhat well read (though with obvious gaps), but by a tour guide who doesn't understand history very well despite all his reading and who certainly doesn't understand economics!!!]

Question 18

And for our young members, what was the "Hump" and who flew it?

Answer 18

The "Rape of China" (as it is termed in history books) by Japan had been underway almost a decade when President Roosevelt imposed an embargo. Most American history books talk about the "scrap iron" included in the embargo and ignore the fact that it included oil. At that time, all of Japan's oil came from Indonesia and, since 100% of Indonesian oil was owned by Caltex (the 50-50 joint venture of all Eastern-Hemisphere operations of Chevron and Texaco), THE OIL PROVISION OF ROOSEVELT'S EMBARGO APPLIED TO INDONESIAN OIL.

Japan's War Cabinet quickly realized that they would be on their knees within a matter of days unless they attacked and captured Indonesia (!!!) which, technically, was still a Dutch colony even though Holland was occupied by the Nazis. But Fleet Admiral Yamamoto pointed out that an invasion of Indonesia would fatally expose the Japanese flank to attack by the American aircraft carriers stationed at Pearl Harbor. He also pointed out that there were 6 insuperable reasons why an attack on Pearl Harbor would not be successful (which, of course, was why American Intelligence thought the attack would fall on American bases in the Philippines which were still an American possession).

However, Yamamoto advised the rest of the War Cabinet that if the Japanese Navy worked feverishly on the 6 insuperable obstacles (which involved, among other things, useless bomb sights and useless torpedoes), their chances of success might round up to 1% rather than down to 0%. The War Cabinet then decided that 1% was larger than 0%!!! [It is fascinating that the Japanese War Cabinet did NOT decide that a 1% chance of success was so small that they should back down though Yamamoto was in favor of backing down!!!]

As history records, Japan was successful at both Pearl Harbor and Indonesia!!! And, teaming up with Hitler and Mussolini, began to roll across the rest of China and across the countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

Both the Chinese Nationalists and the Chinese Communists had to retreat into the Himalayas of Western China. The only thing that kept the Chinese Nationalists going was the airlift of supplies of food and ammunition that were flown by American pilots from Indian air bases over Japanese-occupied Burma's Himalayas!!! It was called "flying the hump" because the Himalayan PASSES blocking their route still registered more than 15,000 feet and the Americans were, of course, using World War II vintage cargo planes. Needless to say, many of them were shot down by Japanese aircraft and many of them crashed into the Himalayas.

Question 19

And, for a reality check, why does the American Media assume that the "Arab Spring" is influenced more by American values than the preaching of Osama bin Laden (to the extent it was influenced by either)? After all, Pew Research Polls have always shown that America is loathed by the overwhelming majority in every Muslim country and Osama stood, primarily, for overthrowing Muslim dictators, all of whom Osama claimed were American puppets.

Answer 19

Once again, "Allah/God only knows"!!!

Question 20

Why has there been no public disclosure in the wake of the capture of Osama's personal documents which have been described as being the size of a small college library, regarding what has happened to Osama's fatwa to nuke 10 million Americans (the number of Arabs he calculated had been killed by the U.S. or its allies)? After all, (1) Graham Allison, the Founding Dean of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, wrote a book on how to deal with Osama's Fatwa by controlling nuclear material, (2) it has often been pointed out that Allison's approach is wishful thinking because, for example, the old Soviet Union's missing 178 suitcase-size nuclear weapons contained a considerable amount of recycle-able nuclear material and have long since been universally agreed by experts to be in the hands of terrorists, and (3) this issue has been the subject of intense concern for every recent Chair of the Sen Fgn Rel or Sen Armed Services Committees with, indeed, Sen Fgn Rel Chair Joe Biden writing an Op Ed piece for the Wall St. Journal during the 2008 Presidential campaign arguing that all nuclear material has "DNA" indicating where it was produced and the U.S. should announce to the world that if the U.S. is ever subject to a nuclear attack from terrorists, the U.S. will annihilate with nuclear weapons the country of origin of the nuclear material used against the U.S. (causing some wags to point out that if the U.S. itself is the country of origin, the Biden Doctrine would obligate us to commit nuclear suicide!!!).

Answer 20

Once again, "Allah/God only knows"!!!

Incidentally, one might wonder whether a "fatwa" dies with the person who issued it so that, from strictly the viewpoint of Islamic Law, America need no longer worry about Osama's "fatwa" to nuke 10 million Americans.

The answer is provided by the famous case of Salmon Rushdie whose book "The Satanic Verses" provoked Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue on 2/14/1989 a "fatwa" calling for the assassination of Rushdie. On 3/7/1989, Britain broke diplomatic relations with Iran because of the "fatwa" and the fact that Rushdie resided in the U.K.

The "fatwa" sparked violence around the world, including the fire-bombing of innumerable book stores that stocked "The Satanic Verses."

On 9/24/1998, diplomatic relations were restored by Britain and Iran on the basis of an Iranian public commitment that it would "neither support nor hinder assassination attempts on Rushdie"!!!

The reason why that was all Britain could get???

Because the Iranians successfully made the case that under Islamic Law, a "fatwa" can be revoked only by the cleric who issued it!!! And Ayatollah Khomeini who led the 1979 Iranian revolution had died in 1989 shortly after issuing the "fatwa"!!!

Incidentally, the current Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, re-affirmed to Muslims on the occasion of their 2005 Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that Ayatollah Kohmeini's "fatwa" calling for the assassination of Rushdie remained in full force and effect because "fatwas" can be revoked only by the cleric who issued them and Ayatollah Khomeini died without revoking it!!!

[It is amusing that even though the 2005 re-affirmation of Ayatollah Khamenei to the 2005 Pilgrims to Mecca was a clear violation of the 9/24/1998 Iranian commitment underlying the restoration of diplomatic relations with Britain, those relations were not threatened by the re-affirmation and Britain did not even emit a whimper!!!]

HOWEVER, WITHOUT PRESUMING TO BE ALLAH/GOD, THE SUGGESTION IS OFFERED THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA PROBABLY DOES NOT WANT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC TO FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT WITH THE ASSASSINATION OF OSAMA, HIS "FATWA" TO NUKE 10 MILLION AMERICANS CAN NEVER BE EXTINGUISHED!!!

After all, President Obama is trying to cut the military budget. And, as noted in Question 20, experts have long since concluded that the 178 suitcase-size Soviet suitcase bombs had long since fallen into the hands of terrorists and, since the bombs contained quite a bit of recycle-able nuclear material, experts have been opining since 9/11 ten years ago that it would only be 2-3 years from then before the first American cities would be destroyed by nuclear weapons of terrorists. Indeed, that was the reason for Senate Foreign Relations Chair Joe Biden's famous OpEd piece when he was running for President in 2008 that the U.S. should announce to the world that the U.S. will annihilate with nuclear weapons any country from which terrorists had obtained their nuclear material.

Perhaps we should discuss on June 15th whether President Obama is wise to try to cut the military budget. After all, it is currently only 3% of GDP contrasted with a high of 6% before President Clinton assumed office. And it would seem the country could survive the destruction of a few major American cities with nuclear weapons - but can the Democratic party survive such destruction if they have cut the defense budget in the face of a "fatwa" to nuke 10 million Americans which, courtesy of Osama's assassination, can never be extinguished???