Last week, an absentee ballot request mailer was sent out locally by the Republican Party of Virgina. The return envelope bears an ambiguous, yet eerily familiar, picture along with some strong words. Some bloggers weigh in. via
posted by phunniemee on Oct 23, 2008 - 87 comments

Subivor - People should have more protection than a necktie, their shirt or paper towel to cover their mouth, nose and eyes. They need Moist Towelettes too. [via]
posted by tellurian on Jun 9, 2008 - 41 comments

The Next Attack. "Terrorists in Iraq are becoming proficient at blowing up oil refineries. Similar plants in a handful of American cities represent our greatest vulnerability. We could easily be making them less dangerous. But we’re not." And one of the key players in keeping things that way happens to be Dick Cheney’s son-in-law.
posted by homunculus on Mar 1, 2007 - 38 comments

Jack Bauer isn't afraid to cut the eyes out of any (deliberative) body; or, Rupert Murdoch demonstrates the 17th Amendment's fatal flaw.
posted by orthogonality on Feb 3, 2006 - 37 comments

The dirty bomb hoax. One of the biggest threats from terrorism was the supposed dirty bomb plot by Jose Padilla which eventually turned up nothing. Even if there was a plot, the threat of a dirty bomb has been over-exaggerated. The U.S. military had already tested the possibilities of a dirty bomb and discovered that "any immediate deaths or serious injuries would likely result from the explosion itself, rather than from radiation exposure." The radiation could be cleaned up with a geiger counter and a vacuum cleaner. But don't forget to buy your nuke pills! (via the Power of Nightmares)
posted by destro on Mar 20, 2005 - 39 comments

We're all going to "die". Genocratic discourse or small-scale post-millennial angst?
posted by tommyc on Mar 1, 2005 - 12 comments

I had trouble sleeping Saturday night because of a CNN story suggesting that "increased level of chatter and activity" indicated that "another al Qaeda terrorist operation could be in the works." The "warnings" have been coming ever since: Cheney said Sunday that future attacks were "almost a certainty" and FBI director Robert Mueller stated "we will not be able to stop it", with Ridge and Rumsfeld spinning similar tales today. Is there a new threat? Ridge hasn't changed the nation's security alert from "yellow," and AP reported today that "a top White House aide said last week's criticism prompted a two-pronged political response: Bush accused Democrats of playing politics with the issue as his advisers reminded voters that America is still a target."
posted by tranquileye on May 21, 2002 - 57 comments

Desperate, clueless people scrambling to keep us safe? Or cynical manipulation of public fear and superstition, keeping the pea hopping from shell to shell while the real machinations go on behind the scenes? Either way, the government seems to be doing their part to see that we don't forget that we're supposed to be terrorized.
posted by rushmc on Nov 10, 2001 - 16 comments

Third-grader suspended for drawing soldier, kniufe, gun The teacher said that the students were scared of the drawings....perhaps they should read the article in the current issue of the Guardian which goes into specifics of our new military budget and suggests that the total cost of our military budget is 1/3 of that spent by all of the nations in the world combined.
posted by Postroad on Mar 25, 2001 - 36 comments