[Cincinnatus]

Ahhh! Meant to respond to this before and forgot.

First, Sneaky, I was not in any way implying that you did come up with the idea entirely on your own. My sincerest apologies if you thought I was casting any sort of aspersion on you integrety.

As per, IIRC, our previous converation on this topic, I think the germ of the notion (what a song writer would call the hook), the "still wanna quit" piece is simple enough and topical enough that it could occur simultaneously to different people, much as very similar sentiments appear on slightly different bumper stickers when an issue looms large in the public consciousness.

The "True Believer" component was not something I'd ever seen before your quote, and the nature of that (e.g., the G making his own web gear) reflects your specific background, training, and outlook, so that it is exceedingly unlikely that someone else would come up with the same sort or language. However, as plagiarism requires a conscious and deliberate stealing of another's ideas or words, it is still quite possible that this hasn't occurred.

Again, given the topicality and interest in terrorism and the relative softness of many in the West, this is the kind of thing that captures the public's imagination and gets repeated, generally without attribution, evolving slightly as it is repeated. Things stick in people's consciousness without their recognizing it. (The most famous example may be that of Helen Keller, apparently entirely unknowingly, offering a near perfect copy of a poem that she had heard as a child as her own.)

Dad "busted" me once on an idea that I was using in something I was writing as belonging to an author we'd both read (Lawrence Saunders), I was sure the thought was original, but when I went and checked, Dad was right. In the decade or so since this happened, I have tried to be particularly diligent in never repeating this sin, but have caught myself doing it a couple of times, and I would wager a large sum of money that there've been things I've missed, my best intentions notwithstanding.

Anyway, I apologize again, both for any offense my previous post may have given, and for not addressing this sooner.

I hope there are no ill feelings.