Who cares?
What a bizarre place the world has turned into. People have been committing hideous acts against other people virtually since the dawn of human civilisation. Shit happens. Buildings get knocked down. People get gassed and turned into craft projects. People get sexually molested by their loved ones, robbed at gunpoint, run down by drunks, randomly murdered in gang initiations, hand-picked for murder by serial killers, assassinated for money, spite, vengence, love, or target practice; they get their lunch money stolen by older kids, they get anally raped en masse in prison, beaten senseless for being black or Jewish or gay or white or Christian or straight.
People also have their lives saved by anonymous strangers. Where they still exist, gentlemen hold the door for ladies. People get together and rebuild houses for their neighbours in the wake of storms, donate blood, kidneys, lungs, eyes, hearts, secondhand toys, seeing eye dogs, dog food, canned soup, spare time, a word of encouragement, a friendly smile, an unexpected interdiction in a hold-up, shakedown, breakdown, or beat-down.
Some people are good. Some people are bad. Welcome to the human fvcking race. What press conference did I sleep through where we all decided to live in constant fear of a threat less likely to kill any of us than drunk drivers, heart disease or shark attacks?
Terrorist attacks are ugly and senseless; their effects are undeniably tragic and their motivations are always specious and usually repugnant. But for every Osama bin Laden in waiting there are 999 Muslims wailing and gnashing their teeth at the abominations he will perform in the name of their god. For every Timothy McVeigh wannabe there are 999 Americans every bit as disgusted with the federal government as he was yet who would never in a million years justify the murder of innocents in the name of a revolution against tyranny.
How did so many people get taken by suprise by the state of affairs in the world today? How can so many otherwise normal, stable people stand to live their lives in fear of spectres? How can the suicide rate have not shot through the roof in the last two years? I could never stand to live like that; I'd have long since sucked off my Sig rather than suffer such terror.
I am so confused. I'm serious; the more I write the more I am just utterly fvcking baffled at these things.
Phaedrus
What a bizarre place the world has turned into. People have been committing hideous acts against other people virtually since the dawn of human civilisation. Shit happens. Buildings get knocked down. People get gassed and turned into craft projects. People get sexually molested by their loved ones, robbed at gunpoint, run down by drunks, randomly murdered in gang initiations, hand-picked for murder by serial killers, assassinated for money, spite, vengence, love, or target practice; they get their lunch money stolen by older kids, they get anally raped en masse in prison, beaten senseless for being black or Jewish or gay or white or Christian or straight.
People also have their lives saved by anonymous strangers. Where they still exist, gentlemen hold the door for ladies. People get together and rebuild houses for their neighbours in the wake of storms, donate blood, kidneys, lungs, eyes, hearts, secondhand toys, seeing eye dogs, dog food, canned soup, spare time, a word of encouragement, a friendly smile, an unexpected interdiction in a hold-up, shakedown, breakdown, or beat-down.
Some people are good. Some people are bad. Welcome to the human fvcking race. What press conference did I sleep through where we all decided to live in constant fear of a threat less likely to kill any of us than drunk drivers, heart disease or shark attacks?
Terrorist attacks are ugly and senseless; their effects are undeniably tragic and their motivations are always specious and usually repugnant. But for every Osama bin Laden in waiting there are 999 Muslims wailing and gnashing their teeth at the abominations he will perform in the name of their god. For every Timothy McVeigh wannabe there are 999 Americans every bit as disgusted with the federal government as he was yet who would never in a million years justify the murder of innocents in the name of a revolution against tyranny.
How did so many people get taken by suprise by the state of affairs in the world today? How can so many otherwise normal, stable people stand to live their lives in fear of spectres? How can the suicide rate have not shot through the roof in the last two years? I could never stand to live like that; I'd have long since sucked off my Sig rather than suffer such terror.
I am so confused. I'm serious; the more I write the more I am just utterly fvcking baffled at these things.
Phaedrus
Its nice to see that the Strategic Genius GWB has helped make everyone feel much safer about life in general.
You could learn a few things from the mistakes us Brits made in the 70's with the IRA.
Political prisoners was one of them.
Panicking the population tended to increase the perceived power of the terrorists, and push the Government into hasty legislation.
To put things into perspective, about 42,000 people are killed by cars each year in the USA alone.
I don't see any mass hysteria about it though.
[This message was edited by eek on December 31, 2003 at 06:11 AM.]
You could learn a few things from the mistakes us Brits made in the 70's with the IRA.
Political prisoners was one of them.
Panicking the population tended to increase the perceived power of the terrorists, and push the Government into hasty legislation.
To put things into perspective, about 42,000 people are killed by cars each year in the USA alone.
I don't see any mass hysteria about it though.
[This message was edited by eek on December 31, 2003 at 06:11 AM.]
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Hard to really apply such labels. How is the Pope a "conservative"? Weren't conservatives in favor of the Iraq war? The Pope wasn't. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
TRUE conservatives were also against the war.
The pope is a right wing asshole who has no business speaking for God or Jesus.
TRUE conservatives were also against the war.
The pope is a right wing asshole who has no business speaking for God or Jesus.
andynbg
Saw this article at Norse news site Nettavisen ... is this referring to the bomb scare you mention at the start of the thread?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
CIA misinformed about Ansar
by Geir Selvik,Carin Pettersson and Ole Dag Kvamme
Sources at the German intelligence bureau claim that CIA misinformed them about the alleged planned terror action in Hamburg December 30. Ansar al-Islam was accused of being behind the attempt.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen by German intelligence, they are convinced that the CIA information is wrong, and they allegedly fear that American authorities planted the information.
German police have started an investigation after the terror alarm at the hospital in Hamburg December 30. So far, no evidence has been located that indicates that the terror alarm was genuine.
Also German police who were tipped off by the CIA, doubt that the terror alarm was real.
Might be fake
«We have not found any proof that the terror alarm was genuine, but we haven’t found any evidence that states it was not,» said Vahldiecker, officer at Landesamt fûr Varfassungsschutz in Hamburg to TV 2 Nettavisen. «It is of course possible that it was fake, but we do not know that for certain yet.»
Vahldiecker confirms that they received information regarding the planned terror attack from American sources, but he said that he did not believe they provided fake information on purpose, if this might be the case.
«It is possible that they gave us the wrong information, but it is not likely that they did it on purpose,» Vahldiecker said.
However, that notion is not supported by German intelligence. According to our sources, they are surprised both by the way the case has been handled and by the large leaks to the press.
Lots of mistakes
Only a couple of hours after CIA had given the tip to German police, the case was reported on Der Speigel Online. Ansar al-Islam was named as the most likely organization behind the terror attempt.
In addition, sources at German intelligence points out that there are several factual mistakes in the terror tip given to Verfassungsschutz in Hamburg.
According to information given by Norwegian intelligence, Norwegian authorities were also informed of the terror alarm in Hamburg due to Mullah Krakars former position as leader of Ansar al-Islam, in addition to Mullah Krekars activity on the Internet.
Økokrim informed
Erling Grimstad, assistant director at Økokrim, the central unit for investigations of economic and environmental crime, stated to the Norwegian daily Aftenposten that he did not want to confirm or disprove that Norwegian authorities were contacted in connection with the terror alarm.
Grimstad confirms that Økokrim is working with several foreign police authorities, but he does not wish to name what nations.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen, the information regarding the terror alarm in Hamburg was one of the main reasons why Mullah Krekar was arrested Friday January 3. The police allegedly feared that Mullah Krekar gave orders of suicide missions over the Internet.
Not suprised
«I’m not surprised by this information,» said Brynjar Meling. Mullah Krekar’s lawyer, to TV 2 Nettavisen. «I have all along claimed that the terror alarm in Hamburg was the trigger for Økokrim’s arrest of Krekar . What other reason would it be for Økokrim to make the arrest at this time after such a long time since the charge was filed October 30.»
He stated that he wished to present the information provided TV 2 Nettavisen in court.
«This is important for us,» Mekling stated. «This indicates the type game Norwegian authorities have been exposed to in this case.»
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Phaedrus
Saw this article at Norse news site Nettavisen ... is this referring to the bomb scare you mention at the start of the thread?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
CIA misinformed about Ansar
by Geir Selvik,Carin Pettersson and Ole Dag Kvamme
Sources at the German intelligence bureau claim that CIA misinformed them about the alleged planned terror action in Hamburg December 30. Ansar al-Islam was accused of being behind the attempt.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen by German intelligence, they are convinced that the CIA information is wrong, and they allegedly fear that American authorities planted the information.
German police have started an investigation after the terror alarm at the hospital in Hamburg December 30. So far, no evidence has been located that indicates that the terror alarm was genuine.
Also German police who were tipped off by the CIA, doubt that the terror alarm was real.
Might be fake
«We have not found any proof that the terror alarm was genuine, but we haven’t found any evidence that states it was not,» said Vahldiecker, officer at Landesamt fûr Varfassungsschutz in Hamburg to TV 2 Nettavisen. «It is of course possible that it was fake, but we do not know that for certain yet.»
Vahldiecker confirms that they received information regarding the planned terror attack from American sources, but he said that he did not believe they provided fake information on purpose, if this might be the case.
«It is possible that they gave us the wrong information, but it is not likely that they did it on purpose,» Vahldiecker said.
However, that notion is not supported by German intelligence. According to our sources, they are surprised both by the way the case has been handled and by the large leaks to the press.
Lots of mistakes
Only a couple of hours after CIA had given the tip to German police, the case was reported on Der Speigel Online. Ansar al-Islam was named as the most likely organization behind the terror attempt.
In addition, sources at German intelligence points out that there are several factual mistakes in the terror tip given to Verfassungsschutz in Hamburg.
According to information given by Norwegian intelligence, Norwegian authorities were also informed of the terror alarm in Hamburg due to Mullah Krakars former position as leader of Ansar al-Islam, in addition to Mullah Krekars activity on the Internet.
Økokrim informed
Erling Grimstad, assistant director at Økokrim, the central unit for investigations of economic and environmental crime, stated to the Norwegian daily Aftenposten that he did not want to confirm or disprove that Norwegian authorities were contacted in connection with the terror alarm.
Grimstad confirms that Økokrim is working with several foreign police authorities, but he does not wish to name what nations.
According to information provided TV 2 Nettavisen, the information regarding the terror alarm in Hamburg was one of the main reasons why Mullah Krekar was arrested Friday January 3. The police allegedly feared that Mullah Krekar gave orders of suicide missions over the Internet.
Not suprised
«I’m not surprised by this information,» said Brynjar Meling. Mullah Krekar’s lawyer, to TV 2 Nettavisen. «I have all along claimed that the terror alarm in Hamburg was the trigger for Økokrim’s arrest of Krekar . What other reason would it be for Økokrim to make the arrest at this time after such a long time since the charge was filed October 30.»
He stated that he wished to present the information provided TV 2 Nettavisen in court.
«This is important for us,» Mekling stated. «This indicates the type game Norwegian authorities have been exposed to in this case.»
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Phaedrus
