Leon Panetta of the CIA went to Israel to tell the Israelis not to launch a surprise attack on Iran. Days later, a Democratic Senator from New Jersey went to Israel to tell the Israelis that an Israeli attack on Iran would be understood by America. What an absolute idiot! Israeli warmongering is one of the chief causes of instability in the Middle East. Obama should tell the Israelis they need to get out of the West Bank and the Golan Heights, and stop oppressing the Palestinians. Then Iran will pose no problem for them.

I still really have to disagee with ya here.

Look, if I put a PA system on my roof, and EVERYDAY, at Dawn and Dusk, starting at 5am, and 3 point in between, got on it and started yelling "There is no god, Its all stupid, and people who pray are silly" for 15 - 20 minutes at a time, people would call the cops.

Your comparison is very bad.

Look, I dislike religion. I dont care if you want to be muslim or christian or whatever... But I dont want to hear about it 5 times a day how allah is the king of the universe and I should go pray to him... that is why I dont live in Indonesia anymore.

Maybe if it was once a week, ok, but 35 times a week...and extra long on friday, gets a bit annoying, ok.

instead of a new copy of The Koran. And we could save a little cash on prayer rugs.

Well, I guess it's really just a question of when the garabage trucks come through your neighborhood, or when the street sweeper comes by.

Fisrt, I would like to point out that Sunrise is actually not at 5:00 AM, but ususally between 5:20 - 7 AM on the eastern seabord (the earliest sunrise in the country) That is generally considered an active time, and noises of life what ever they are, children playing, cars back firing, neighbors playing music or mowing their lawn, are all considered acceptable in most neighborhoods.

I guess the obvious point of order here is, if you are offended by the call to prayer, don't live next to a mosque. sounds like this rarely carry much more than a city block so it seems like it would be relativly easy to avoid.

And although the phrase blarring is often used here, I cna't help but imagine the noise produced for a minute or two three times a day is likely relativly melodic and likely performed in an inoffensive way.

great question. now handle these, mister smarty-pants: what if the moon is really made of cheese? and what if pigs could fly? and what if you came across something worthy of writing about? huh? huh? what then, mister know-it-all?

Did you miss the parts were I told you were i used to live?

I am not speaking from ignorance as you are...it is friggen annoying.

"would like to point out that Sunrise is actually not at 5:00 AM"

Well, here it is ussualy at 4:30am, because it is done Before sunrise.

"That is generally considered an active time, and noises of life what ever they are, children playing, cars back firing, neighbors playing music or mowing their lawn"

Do you live in an old folks community? really?

Maybe remembering what was basically a bullhorn in my bedroom window colors my perseption a bit, but I would like to live without it again. (ahhh, and I loved the holidays when it would play FOR 24 HOURS!)

"Prayer is better than sleep, God is the greatest, come pray, blah blah"

Keep it to yourselves, else dont complain when I put up my PA system. When you call to prayer, you are proselytizing, and I don't want to hear it.

I mean, I know some of you guys are so gushy gushy over multiculturalism, but I bet if your neighbor was yelling the "Our Father" and Come to Jesus every morning over loud speakers.. You would be annoyed.

I would be.

if someone built a masjid on my block and they were issued a noise permit for their outdoor Prayer system, then I would also put mine on my roof, and every morning say "There is no god..you are all silly and delusional".

Fair enough?

Well...I think we just hit the head on the nail...

YOU LIVED IN INDONISIA!

See, that's kind of the thing I was saying about Assholes in a social majority, vs. Assholes surrounded by other assholes.

When your in a social majority (say muslims in indonisia) you get the biggest assholes putting forth the most annoying forms of assholitry.

When you are a just one of many asshole minority (say in Oxford england) you find a way to make your expressions palatable to your neighbors.

Now, when you move to someone elses country, a country where a certain culture and their assholes are the dominate form of asshole, you can either be an ugly american and speak of how much worse the assholes here are than your personal assholetry, or you can recognize, gee I'm in someone elses country I should adapt my behaviors so as not to cause friction with my neighbors.

As such Mosques in the U.S. don't Blare the call to prayer at all hours to annoy the infidels.

See, how it works, how not being the dominate asshole changes the whole dynamic? Imagine if there was a Jamiso land, and you and all of your particular assholetry were the norm. What would you blare? What would you demand? Now come over to Clockwork Smurf Land where my Assholetry is on display.

Now, if you and the entire Jamiso clan move to Clockwork Smurf Land, and start doing your own assholing, eventually, my Fellow Clockwork Smufs realize that we ourselve are being assholes, and eventually we all tone down the assholes, and find a way to live in peace.

The assholes are everywhere, and the only defense against them is more and differnt assholes. That's the point, so sure you don't want to hear the call to prayer, but without it, someother group of assholes might start to think they are the only assholes in town, and that's how your local schoolboard start's teaching creationism.