1 El Cid's spinning in his grave so fast, all we need to do is strap some magnets to his remains and we'll have a generator capable of powering the entire northern hemisphere!

2 I dunno. There are lots of opportunities for subverting the Islamist agenda there. This actually gives me some hope that Spain isn't as clueless as I'd thought. Sigh. If the left and the right (worldwide) would ever listen to each other and respect both 'soft power' (left) and 'hard power' (right), we could win. But neither listens to the other.

3 I'm sorry, Kathy, did you say something? Just kidding! (Sorry, I couldn't resist).

4 Left/Right listen? State sponsored religion? Appeasing terrorism? *shake youÂ’re booty now* This decision makes absolutely no sense to me. I guess theyÂ’re just bending over and grabbing their ankles hoping the terrorists strike elsewhere.

5 Its not Spain; its al-Andalus.

6 Kathy, 1) How can even a moderate agree with state supported religion? I know some Euroweenie countries already have some form of state sponsorship, but....well, just add that to the list of why I'll never move to Europe. 2)The problem isn't in the al-Andalusion (wink-Jane)government's motivation, of course they are trying to do the right thing, but that is besides the point. The notion that it is Saudi Arabian money to blame for the spread of radical Islam may have some merit, but I would argue that it is Islam itself to blame. Islam is not like Christianity or Judaism or any other major religion. It EXPLICITLY rejects the duality of church and state (ie, sharia law) and is therefore not just a religion but a political ideology. The problem is Islam, and until Islam rejects Sharia law (which, by the way, EXPLICITLY outlines the penalty for apostasy as DEATH) than Islam itself is the enemy and not just a few extremists. Sure, most moderate Muslims reject terrorism, but that is only one of the evils bred by Islam. A far greater evil is the state as envisioned in the Koran. It is a state that relegates Christians and Jews to second-class status. It is a state that would outlaw Hinduism. It is a state that would ban free discussion of religion and free conversion. To use an analogy, yes Che Guevara was a murdering swine, but Karl Marx was far more dangerous. Terrorsts die, but ideas transcend generations.

7 The half researched assertions that pass for fact in this thread are somewhat pathetic. I stumbled into it because I was looking for history books on Moorish Spain. Pat Moynihan said something like: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts." Any halfwit can have beliefs. The most ignorant forms of belief result in barbarism, whether Christian, Muslim, terrorist, etc.. Try learning something. Who knows? You might find it refreshing.