ATMega168 SPI tranmission will not start
Finally found the solution to this problem. 

First, the SPI set up function needed adjustment.

void initSPI(void)
{
PRR = 0b11111011; //turn power saving on for all peripherals other than SPI
SPCR = 0b11111001; //SPI interrupt enabled, SPI enabled, MSB trasmitted last, 
                    //master, falling edge triggered, set up then sample, fosc/8
SPSR = 0x01; //2x clock speed for fosc/8
}


Additionally, the processor does not handle the !SS pin in master mode. It needs to be set low at the start of transmission and returned high afterwards manually. 

if(send != NOTHING)
{
    PORTB =  PORTB &amp; 0b11111011;
    SPDR = send; //start transmission
    while(!(SPSR &amp; (1&lt;&lt;SPIF))); //wait for transmission to finish
    PORTB =  PORTB &amp; 0b11111111;
}